


Distance [Discontinued]

by ShadowSector



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Altered World Logic, Ambiguous Relationships, Battle, Blood and Injury, Bonding, Comfort, Fantasy, Gen, Hurt, Loss, Magic, POV First Person, Secrets, Strained Friendships, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:40:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 95,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25982257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowSector/pseuds/ShadowSector
Summary: For as long as he can remember, he's only ever been alone in his world. His memories are bare and his desires are of solitude and peace. He's a simple man who lived a simple life, and yet, while he strived to keep his life stagnant, his world suddenly strived for the opposite. Without a choice, he bears the sudden distortion in his life, pushing him near what was always supposed to be empty and silent. What was silence, is now noise. What was distant, is now close. [Discontinued]
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> This story is made based on the world logic of Minecraft, albeit with alterations and additions to said logic. All characters, apart from Minecraft's main set of monsters, are original and are intended to have no connections to any real-life personalities or existing characters. In other words, this story is a take on making an original storyline reliant on the details of Minecraft as a base. As so, please bear in mind that any "inconsistencies" between the game's logic and this story's world are intended to be different for the sake of storytelling.

I always hated this part of the month as it was always so boring and time-consuming. Nothing fun about doing this: spending an entirety of three days searching for materials that I needed. From the morning until dusk I would walk around in the middle of this empty world, looking for the items that I needed to have restocked for my sake and the sake of my empty town because if I didn't, I'll die or everything I have will break down. It was all just annoying, going back and forth from one place to the other. The worst part of all of this is the fact that I have to listen to myself complain throughout it all.

But of course, I always managed to convince myself that everything is fine and to deal with it because, at the cost of three cruel days of work, in exchange, I give myself peace for the rest of the month, which, to my ears, sounds wonderful. Three days of hard work; twenty-seven days of peace. A good deal that is always worth the effort for me. Still, regardless of the amount of freedom I give myself, these three days are sons of bitches to deal with. I have to haul ass from the forest to a cave, and then to my town, and then to the mountains and plains, and then back to my town. In the midst of all of the traveling, I have to fight monsters that want to be hindrances to my momentum and carry a shit ton of supplies, all while making sure that I don't lose or forget any of them.

Of course, on top of all of that I have to feed myself, keep myself hydrated, and well-rested because just like anyone else with humanity, I don't want to die or pass out in the worst possible location. Luckily, today was the last day of this monthly bullcrap. The last errand I needed to accomplish was to gather wood and replant any trees I chopped down; all of which was going very well and smoothly. My only worry at the minute, however, was the fact that it was dark, and in this world, the dark brings monsters; such an annoying occurrence. Well, as of right now, my concern didn't matter much since I was almost done with my tasks. All I was doing was chopping my final tree for the day.

The irritating sound of my ax hitting the bark of the tree repeated over and over again. At this point in my life, such a short sound became a sickness to my mind. Nevertheless, after a couple of seconds, the tree became the victim of my continuous action and fell. Multiple pieces of wood fell to the floor, spreading across a small area. It was a nice sight; the view was a depiction of my finished work.

Ever so happy with myself, I crouched down and picked up the pieces of wood and placed them in my backpack. All I had to do now was head back home to the town that I have built. As I stood back up, I looked at my digital watch; it was 9:54 PM. It wasn't too late that it would be a big problem, but neither was it early enough that I could have an easy stroll back to where I'm supposed to be. How much I wished it was, though.

I looked at the dark sky which was plated with stars all over and one shiny white moon. It was a nice sight, one that was very relaxing. As if nature had a cue, a nice and subtle wind began to blow, giving me a chilly feeling that gave me goosebumps. The trees around me whistled and their leaves danced along with the air, creating a nice soothing ambiance that allowed my mind to indulge itself in silence and peace.

_Man... How nice it'd be if all of the nights in this world could be like this._

Cutting myself off of my trance, I looked back down and turned in the direction in which my town was located. All I had to do now, was _walk_. Without any further delay, I began to move my legs.

It was all very quiet which was very surprising. Normally at this point, I would hear tons of horrendous and monstrous sounds coming from every angle possible. Groans, screeches, and crackles, all of which belonged to the monsters that would show up on schedule at night. But no, none of those were nowhere to be heard. Instead, all I could hear was the wind and my calm, silent footsteps.

I looked around the landscape in search of a horrendous creature to become displayed within my sight, however, there wasn't one thing anywhere to be found. Today must've been my lucky day. After all of my whining, it seems that destiny has chosen to give me a day off so I could shut the hell up.

Through this dark forest, I walked and walked in complete silence. It was incredibly peaceful and relaxing. It was astonishing how tranquil the atmosphere was without the cracking, growling, screeching, or moaning coming from every direction. The wind and the leaves were the only things that intruded on my hearing.

_You know, nature sure is amazing in the way it can make someone feel. Just moments ago I was giving myself a bothersome time and now, all I felt was the harmony of silence. Honestly, if I wasn't outside kilometers away from home, I could've probably been able to fall asleep here without worries creeping into my brain and instincts._

My eyes wandered from tree to tree, from one side of the plain to the other, from the sky to the ground, and from my hands to my surroundings. Everything looked exquisite with the timid moonlight falling all over. The dim white lighting kept the environment from becoming unsettling and terrifying.

_How I wish for every night to be just like this one. Is it so much to ask to have this wish of mine granted? Seriously, is there even a necessity for monsters to appear every night as if they have a schedule to follow through?_

I gave a defeated sigh since I knew this will probably be the only peaceful night I'll have for months. After all, this world isn't so kind or forgiving in the area of survival.

* * *

I hadn't really paid attention to the amount of distance I had autonomously traveled, but by the looks of it, since I couldn't see my village anywhere within my sight, I still had a good bit to go. I looked up at the sky to see the bright white circle just hanging directly above me. It was midnight and I wasn't close to home. I knew that this would've happened if I chose to keep working myself. At least it was nice that I didn't have to engage anything. Otherwise, if I had to, I could guarantee that I would've been drained of my remaining stamina due to how tired I feel from everything else I've accomplished today.

About thirty minutes later, I had managed to cross the forest I was in and was going down a small hill. In the distance of the land, I was able to see my village which was surrounded by a towering wall of stone lit up by torches. Finally, my destination was within my grasp. As a result of my visual confirmation, my happiness and relief gave me a light boost of energy that kept me moving.

My eyes scanned the entire plane of land in front of me in search of any threats, however, there was nothing around that could've worried me. This current phenomenon was truly fascinating and confusing to me. Why was it so calm tonight of all nights? If my memory served me right, this has to be the only placid night that I could remember. I could not recall any other night that has shown the harmony of solitude like the way this night has shown.

I looked at my digital watch and noticed that it was barely over one in the morning. The night was still young so for all I knew, those shitty monsters might begin showing up sometime soon, perhaps right when it is time for me to sleep.

" ** _Aaaaaaiiiiiihhhhhh_**!" All of a sudden the silence throughout the land was terminated by a sharp feminine squeal.

_What in the living hell was that?_

The scream was sharp and full of fear and despair. It killed all of the comfortable emptiness within my brain _._ Instinctually, I stopped walking and pulled out my sword. In an instant, a shit ton of questions clouded my mind.

_Who the hell had screamed? Is that a girl? Why the hell could she be screaming about? Where in the hell is she? What the fuck?_

After the squeal, the only thing that I was able to hear was my slow breathing, my quickened heartbeat, and a rising ringing noise in my ears. I stood still, waiting for something to happen. Was she going to scream again? Or am I going to go to my village and act as if I didn't hear anything?

_Seriously though, what in the fuck could she be screaming about? There aren't any monsters anywhere._

I stood fixed on the ground for who knows how fucking long, waiting for anything to happen.

_Did I just hallucinate? Am I so damned tired that I just heard an imaginary scream?_

I turned my head from left to right, back and forth with my senses all rioting at their max. Nothing was happening, nothing at all.

" _ **Aaaaaaiiiiieeeeeehhh**_!" There it was again, the same girl. That freakish squeal came from my right, all the way from what seemed to be the small entrance of a cave that I had found months ago.


	2. Meeting

_What was I going to do?_

I was standing still, completely motionless as I tried to maintain my concentrated breathing. I was contemplating, trying to decide as to whether or not I should get myself involved with whoever it was that was in distress. In my current situation, I was exhausted both mentally and physically, carrying supplies, had only one true offensive weapon, and was standing in the middle of an open field in the middle of the night. My chances of acting cheesily heroic weren't good. If I wanted to do something, at the very minimum, I'd have to discard my tools and materials here as their weight would be detrimental to my combat abilities. Otherwise, if I carry them, I'm likely to be encumbered to the point of being useless. Either that or I turn around and act as if nothing happened at the cost of someone else's existence.

Now, why am I even considering this person's life? Fuck if I know. I guess some sense of humanity was still within me after all of these years. Still, I don't think my humanitarian side is strong enough to push me out to save someone who, for all I know, could be hazardous to my survival.

_Goddammit, why did this have to happen when I was at peace?_

I looked towards the direction of the open and darkened entrance of the death-insisting cave, sighing in frustration. I've already spent a minute worth of time thinking. If I'm going to go after this person, I'm going to have to get moving within the next thirty seconds.

 _Yes or no? What would be more worth it to me? A day of sweat and cruel work or someone I don't know_? _Oh for fuck's sake. God, I don't know_ _what you're doing up there, but can you please make this worth the while for me? Don't let me walk back into my damn home empty-handed._

Along with a vast amount of hesitation, I dropped my ax and my backpack that contained a desirable amount of wood and other supplies, mitigating the weight on my body allowing me sharper and faster movement.

With my sword in my hand, I began to sprint over to the entrance as fast as my stamina and endurance would permit. As a result, the need for oxygen in my body began to grow as my breathing and circulation increased with demand. Within seconds, my lungs were pumping as fast as I placed my feet down one after the other. Despite that exertion though, I closed the distance in a fairly short amount of time.

Suddenly, right as I neared the entrance, an important mixture of sounds began to pierce into my ears. _There they were_ , the sounds that were nowhere to be heard up until now. One by one, I recognized the calls of the demons that crawled throughout the land when darkness swept through the world, prompting an internal resentment to grow within my heart as a result.

 _Well, isn't that amusing? After all of the free time that I had, it wasn't until now that_ _they wanted to present themselves. Just great..._

The sounds only continued arising from the entrance, the entrance that loomed as the gateway for the creatures inside. I could guarantee that the second I went inside it, a clusterfuck of a situation would present itself.

The entrance was fixed inside of a small hill, open as if it was a mouth into the underground. I had managed to get myself right in front of it, so now, all I had to do was go inside it. I didn't even let myself think about anything, I just went straight in. At the very least, the cave was lit up by torches that had already been planted on the ground and walls, illuminating the path that I found familiar. The luminous orange-tinted lights orbed onto the grey dull stone. The low but crackling sound of the everlasting flames rang back and forth between the walls, an empty sound which collided with the egregious echoes of the monsters within.

I ran carefully so that I could minimize the chance of granting myself an injury before the worst of the situation began, but fast enough so that I could get to whoever it was within time. I looked around searching for a person. Before I knew it, however, I found myself running into the demonic creatures of the dark instead. The first to demonstrate itself was a walking and rotten human body. Its green, flushed skin along with its open, rotten, purple, and dead blood oozing out of its orifices did nothing but create disgust in my mind.

Alerted by my loud movement, it turned around and faced me, allowing itself to show its contorted face to my eyes. The zombie's strange and unwelcoming look was assisted eerily by the weak lighting of the torches around it. Had I not been used to its horrid features, I would've suffered from countless nightmares due to the sheer level of repulsiveness it had.

Using my speed and momentum, I dashed forward so it could be within my reach. Afterward, without a single bit of restraint, I raised my sharp and double-edged iron sword and pulled it down swiftly, slicing the zombie's head open before I pulled my sword away from the open and rotten laceration. The putrid body then just fell onto the ground, showing no signs of movement. Just like that, I had killed him, and as so, I kept moving a little further down the cave before I met another zombie just like it. This time I just swung my sword sideways and slit the zombie's head off completely, liberating its skull from the rest of the body. The body, just like the previous zombie who had interfered with me, simply folded and fell to the ground.

Personally speaking, zombies were the easiest to deal with out of all of the monsters that I've come to know. Their predictable movements and weak structure made them light-work compared to their brotherly creatures. Just swing at their head with whatever you have and as long as you're strong and accurate, they should be done with. Naturally, due to their body composition, you should avoid using your bare feet or hands as a means of attacking, or at least, not unless you know how to deal strong and precise blows against them. Otherwise, you'd present yourself the risk of hurting yourself in the process, mostly because zombies' bodies are incredibly stiff.

The next monster that presented itself was the skeleton of a human body that was clenching onto a bow. I remember the first time I saw these fuckers. I had to deal with a damn arrow on my right shoulder for a whole night until I could finally regenerate and clear myself of the injury. You'd think that they would be easy to deal with considering they're just bones stuck together, but for some reason, those bones are as hard as stone in terms of stiffness. Not only that but they, for whatever fucking reason, possess an infinite supply of arrows along with a level of marksmanship that is just simply too good for it to be fair. These damn bastards can hit you from a pretty good distance too once they have their eye on you. They don't have eyes but have no problem impaling a sharpened arrow right through you once you favored their attention. Fuckin' bullshit.

Luckily, thanks to my extended amounts of experience, I learned that a good and solid symmetrical hit to their spine or ribs is good enough to rupture their structure and hold. Still, getting yourself close enough to attack is the challenge from their kind, especially when you get yourself in a situation where you have to deal with more than one of them at once. Dodging projectiles isn't as easy as one could fantasize about.

The empty creature began shooting at me, but of course, although he had good skills, he had no chance against me by itself. Every arrow that came in my direction I was capable of dodging cleanly. One arrow passed by above my head after I ducked slightly, another one passed right above my left arm once I had tilted my body sideways to the right, a third arrow missed my left leg due to me stepping over to the right, and one last arrow barely missed me by the torso had I not deflected it with my sword. Once I was close enough, I delivered a strong roundhouse kick which destroyed the framework of all of the bones, forcing them to fly straight onto the cave's walls before breaking into smaller pieces. Afterward, the creature's bow dispersed into light dust along with all of the arrows that had been shot, denying me the chance to scavenge the bow the creature used. Again, fuckin' bullshit.

I didn't want to admit it to myself but my energy was beginning to deplete already. I know that I hadn't done much yet but I was already exhausted. My muscles began to ache and my breathing was beginning to break up. It wouldn't be long until my exertion starts forcing me to give into the ground. Still, this person wasn't within my sight yet so I had to keep trying for a little longer before I could choose to turn around and go to sleep.

I kept running for a little longer before I came across another two zombies. Very quickly I defeated them, using the least amount of movements possible to preserve my little amounts of stamina. At this point I was a level into this cave and the deeper I went, the more I had to fight. Before I knew it another zombie along with a skeleton archer had shown up. As so, I hastily lined myself up in front of the zombie so that the skeleton would shoot right through it. My quick plan was successful as the archer shot an arrow straight through the zombie's head right before I charged at it and punched it straight in the lower spine.

Afterward, I ran for about fifteen more seconds before I came across a steep lowering of the ground. The light cliff-like ground peered over a small drop which led right into an open room of stone and torches, a room that looked very much like a small arena. I quickly looked down in search of someone. At first, I wasn't able to recognize anything other than the monsters due to the low lighting. My vision transfixed itself from one zombie, skeleton, or giant spider to the next. The beings seemed to be gathered lightly as a group, all of them coming towards my direction. I kept scanning the area but I couldn't lay my eyes on anything other than demonic beings.

I studied each one more carefully until I noticed something peculiar about their behavior. It should've been common sense to me that they were attempting to gather around something in my direction. I rapidly peered over the ledge to look over and under the cliff I was crouching on top of, and it was then that I saw the one who I was looking for. I couldn't see very well but I was able to lay my eyes on a person, a female that was laying on her back against a rock that was supporting her. She had a broken bow in her hand and had a trail of blood that led right past the group of monsters that were making their way to her. She also had wounds on her left arm and even worse wounds on her right leg. It was clear that she had suffered wounds from battle, ones that were pretty severe and easily capable of killing her on their own.

Instinctually, I jumped right down in front of her and landed on both of my feet before I turned to look at her completely. I quickly assessed her condition in more detail, and as so, I noticed that she had a hole in her right leg and an actual bite mark on her arm. Not only that, but she was also bleeding from her nose and had a purple left eye. By the looks of it, she wasn't in any condition to move on her own at all.

Due to my sudden appearance, she instantly looked at me with a surprised look showing on her tired and weakened face. I was able to hear her breathing very heavily and ruggedly, hinting of pain, and extreme exertion. On top of all that, it was also obvious that she was barely conscious as she was, only hanging to the present by a thin thread.

Yeah, she wasn't in the condition to do shit.

I turned around and looked at the mob of monsters that were making their way over to us. There were too many to deal with. Fortunately, the pack was mostly of zombies and spiders with only a few skeletons within view. This meant that I didn't have to worry so much about dodging arrows.

I turned back around and ran right to the girl and crouched near her, causing her to look at me with her eyes that were rapidly losing color. Her mouth had opened slightly too, and as so, I could tell that she wanted to say something to me. Unfortunately, though, her speech wasn't part of her functions at the very moment, and instead, all I heard come out of her mouth was a dry gasp and nothing more.

In a sudden motion, I placed my sword into the makeshift sheath on my back and picked her up by placing my arms behind her back and her knees, bridal style. The action and motion of her body gave her great pain as she began to squeal and moan. In her condition, I'm pretty sure anything would've hurt. Instantly I was able to feel her blood pouring onto my clothes along with her quivering muscles. Her breathing grew even more rugged due to her newfound discomfort and her face was riddled with distaste, openly displaying the amount of misery she was in.

As much as I wanted to do more to make her feel better, I had no choice but to ignore her reactions, and instead, I rapidly began making my way out of the open area by jumping and vaulting over the stone obstacles in front of me, all while dodging the arrows that missed my body only by centimeters. Every time her body shifted along with my motions the girl groaned in pain. I really couldn't do much about that, my priority was to get out of this forsaken cave.

Once I was at the top of the peering cliff, I began sprinting up towards the exit, following the torches which guided me to the opening of safety. Step by step she moaned and moaned, each time only making me want to get this over with sooner and sooner. I was only halfway out and I felt the blood from the girl's leg trailing down my forearm to my elbow. Not only that but my stamina was at an all-time low. Fighting was one thing, running was another, but trying to carry another human being while running and avoiding monsters was in another league.

My legs were beginning to burn and ache in sync with my arms which were beginning to strain from the weight that was placed on top of them. My lungs felt heavy as if they were about to fall off of my windpipe and my throat was dry and sore from the harsh and constant roughed up breathing I kept doing. This wasn't easy for shit. The urge to just stop and rest was excruciating and demanding, an urge that was held at bay only by the fact that doing so would get me killed right now. As so, I kept my vision forward to the best of my ability, not paying one bit of attention to the female who had her eyes closed as she tried to bear the situation with me.

Suddenly, as I was trying to maintain my bearings, I noticed that there was a zombie in front of me, staring at me with its rotten eyes. As a result, I found myself irritated as I just didn't have the fucks to give for it. With the best possible attempt I could've given, I simply ran right by it, barely missing its grasp as I swang myself away from it. Of course, that singular zombie wasn't the only obstacle in my way as there were multiple other zombies and spiders after him, all of which who I had to dodge, causing me to use up my remaining stamina far more quickly than I wished. The situation, as a result, was beginning to infuriate me as it was incredibly annoying to know that my stamina was being used up for such bothersome creatures, creatures that took it upon themselves to block my only exit out of the damn cave for no good reason.

Fortunately for me though, after another ten seconds of running, I was finally able to lay my eyes upon the exit. At that very moment, I was able to feel the adrenaline within me starting to travel through the veins in my body, allowing me to push harder and harder against the swelling desire within me to give up. Of course, as happy as I had gotten, life wouldn't allow for things to be that easy for me. Before I knew it, my vision connected with the stare of a skeleton that had his bow drawn right at me. With great difficulty, right as an arrow was shot, I was able to jump to the left, letting the arrow fly to my right. Having had been alerting by him, I kept eye contact with the motherfucker as he readied his next arrow, preparing himself for another attempt to kill me. Once he was finished, he then made his shot, allowing me to notice that he was aiming for my head, causing me to duck down to dodge it, making me lose a bit of my momentum in the process.

Having had survived, I got closer and closer to the archer who emptily readied his third arrow. Very quickly as he was reloading, I had managed to close the distance between us, and as so, once I was close enough, I committed to using a roundhouse kick that was aimed for his hands, kicking the wooden bow out of his grasp in the process. The next sound to be heard was the crackling of wood making harsh contact with the cold stone ground. Having had accomplished my goal, I quickly took advantage of my chance to run away without worries as I bolted for the opening. I didn't even bother turning around to look at what was probably a hopeless and defenseless skeleton as all I heard was the tapping of its bones on the hard stone beneath it, a noise that signified his aimless movement due to his disarmament.

Suddenly though, the next thing I heard was the sound of a string having been let go after stretching it, a deep twang that was made due to its energy and length from having had been released. I didn't even try to think once I heard it. I knew without hesitation what that sound was and what it meant.

_Shit..._

A second later, all I felt was the same feeling I experienced when I had gotten impaled on my right shoulder in the past, except that this time it was on my left leg. Before I knew it, I had crashed onto the ground, losing my hold on the girl that I was carrying, causing her to roll away onto the grass outside of the cave's entrance as I began flinching with pain. I felt the cold yet stinging feeling right on my leg, the burning sensation as if a hot knife was inside my body. I instantly brought my hand down to my leg to only feel a warm liquid coat it.

The pain was unimaginable, although familiar. It was strong and dull, almost causing me to scream the second I had felt it. Of course, I didn't allow myself to scream regardless of how much I wanted to, only because if I did, I'd be granting myself a deathwish.

_**It fucking hurts... It... fucking hurts... God fucking dammit... Damn piece of shit...** _

I groaned lightly to myself, suppressing every instinct telling me to scream the damage done to me. I felt tears running down my face, tears that were showcasing the pain that made it difficult for me to focus. With rhythm and discipline, I opened and closed my eyes multiple times, attempting to stick back to reality. I needed to regain my focus. I needed to keep moving or else I'd get killed by whatever shows up next.

I tried lifting myself with my hands which was fine, but the second I moved my leg I suffered from the recoil of the waving pain that manipulated me, flooring me due to its intensity. Afterward, I looked in front of me towards the girl that was just laying there, probably dead for all I know as she wasn't even conscious anymore, causing me to grow anxious as a result since I didn't even want to think as to whether or not I had failed at my only job.

Without a break, I began to hear a slow yet consistent tapping that was nearing me by the second, a sound that meant that my doom was approaching and that I had to get a move on immediately. If I didn't, then I'd get another arrow to my body, something which I couldn't afford anymore.

Conveniently, somehow, as if my body was listening to my mental demands, I felt the pain in my leg grow weaker and weaker ever so slightly. Consequently, the disappearance of the pain then made it easy for me to get up onto my knees and then brokenly onto both of my feet. Once I was standing straight, I looked down towards my left leg to only see a red aura of light enveloping it. The shiny red light followed around and through the bloody arrow which had trespassed my skin and muscles. It grew brighter and brighter by the second, transforming my leg into a miniature beacon of light. A warm feeling accompanied the light on my leg, making the injury more and more tolerable. Not only that, but the arrow in my leg was disappearing as if its matter was being broken apart. As a result, before I knew it, there was only a hole in my leg with an arrow no longer in view.

_Heh... Of course... There's always that..._

I turned behind me to see the skeleton coming into view, making it clear that I had to go. I then turned and faced the girl which was still motionless, almost passing as being dead had her breathing not been noticeable. I walked to her and picked her up once again, feeling the dull pain in my leg slowly haunt me again. It felt bad still, but it was easier to deal with. Afterward, I began to jog towards the tall and ominous walls which signified the location of my town. It was so close yet so far away, the distance only growing bigger and bigger as the pain exploited my desire to rest.

My leg was still shining, grabbing the attention of all of the mobs that were late on their appearances back when the night had begun. Each zombie, skeleton, and spider turned towards the only conscious and moving human being, a human being who had a glistening light on himself, rendering his chances of stealth down to zero percent. There was a growl to my left, a twang from my right, a hissing and tappy noise from behind me, and much more coming from my sight.

It was great and all to no longer suffer from my wound on my left leg, but my weakened endurance and stamina were still into play in my body. My chest was aching for relief and rest and my legs were scorching from the physical demands I was asking from it. It was nothing but a surprise to me that I hadn't passed out or collapsed. Thankfully, the years of survival I had worth of experience had built my body to withstand more than the average person, I think.

My breathing was ringing my ears and my heart was playing the beat of survival within my chest, thumping so quickly and strongly. Slowly, my mind began to fuzz out of focus, mostly because I had blood pouring out of my leg and was still running; all just because of a warm light that deceived my body of the injury. I wasn't far from the iron and wooden gates that sealed the village, but I wasn't close enough that I could guarantee my safety. The monsters were still howling; they weren't going to disappear anytime soon as the moon was still bright in the open sky. The sun wasn't peaking out of the horizon either, only terminating my wishes for all of this nonsense to end.

I was almost there; the shiny and clean iron frame of the door shined into my eyes due to the bright moonlight that caressed the world. Step by step I was able to see my small and distorted reflection from the metals, getting bigger and even more distorted the more I neared it. Before I could even process anything, my hand was already on the handle, and with the last bit of strength, I pushed the massive gate open and rushed inside before I closed it behind me. A loud clunk of the reinforced door was heard through the empty town, along with an iron bar that fell into place, fortifying the door shut from any possible creatures that may attempt to open it from the outside.

The noises from the monsters outside began to stifle out, softening and lowering in volume, mostly because their only prey was now out of their sight and was protected by the light of all of the torches.

I fell on my knees on top of the bright green and luscious grass, their intense color signifying the peak of their health. I was too weak now. I was finally out of energy, my body ran out of gas. As soft as I could, I placed the girl on my arms down on the grass, so lightly as if she was a newborn. She was still injured, just like me. I couldn't tell if I had done anything useful or good. She was still breathing which was okay, but fuck knows how long it'll be that way. Hopefully, she'll be better by the morning somehow, that way my time and efforts are rendered worthwhile.

I stared at her for what was a whole ten seconds. She was pretty, kind of. It was hard to make a verdict when she had dried blood and a bruise on her face.

She had bright and purely white hair which was spread throughout the grass, rough and rugged from what was probably continuous combat and sweat. Her eyes seemed soft and calm, shut completely, unconscious. Her skin seemed soft and clean had there not been dry blood all over her. She was wearing a white t-shirt that was ripped from the stomach down and white denim shorts. She seemed to have sacrificed protection for comfort, or whatever reason that would explain her revealing choice of clothing.

Her body was toned and in shape, curves everywhere that a girl would have. She seemed to be somewhere around my age as she didn't look completely mature or young. Objectively, she was beautiful. Everything about her physical looks was appealing and attractive. Her beauty was almost unreal. It was somewhat amazing. It was surreal that someone like her could exist. I hadn't met anyone in years and then, all of a sudden, I come across someone who looks to be what could be the peak of a woman's build. Not only that but now, she was... in my care?

_What have I accomplished now?_

My body was swaying lightly back and forth, my arms and hands were shaking from the weakness and fading adrenaline. My eyesight was becoming blurred and hard to keep and my hearing was becoming deafened by a growing ringing noise. I was also beginning to feel extremely weak, nauseous, and bothered.

Before I knew it, I slammed down into the grass, followed by an instant grunt that came out of my throat. The light of the bright village pierced my eyeballs, straining them as this lighting grew stronger and stronger to them. My breathing slowed down along with my heart which thumped so peacefully and calmly. My eyelids slowly rolled down my eyesight, coating my eyes with a dark red curtain of skin.

_What am I going to do next?_ _What's going to happen next?_ _Fuck if I know..._

_I just want to sleep._ _To... relax_ _... quietly_ _..._


	3. Meeting: Part 2

_What the fuck?... I feel like shit..._

My head was pounding heavily, torturing me with every beat that my heart made. I was capable of feeling the veins in my head enlarge and shrink every time my heart pushed blood through them. The aching was destroying my sense of concentration, forcing me to groan and shrivel my face with distaste. Apart from my head, my leg was also being engulfed by pain, a sore, and dull pain as if I had gotten kicked with extreme force. The horrid feeling was brutal, nothing but brutal as it made me frown with displeasure even more than I already was.

I opened my eyes to reveal a yellowish-brown ceiling, signifying that I was inside a room. The room itself was lit from the window to my left as the sunlight from the outside was piercing the clear material into my room. Not only that but the brightness from the streaks of light pierced my own eyes in the process, forcing me to squint in return before I turned my gaze away from the hindrance. Having had turned away, I was then presented with an open and empty space that was only occupied by a small and square table that was standing next to the bed.

This was my room.

Very carefully I began to raise myself while attempting to bypass any use of my left leg. I pushed myself up from my bed and swang my two legs over towards the edge of the furniture, slowly lowering them down and letting them make contact with the cold and stern wooden floor. Afterward, I lazily rubbed my two eyes, trying to rub off the exhaustion that was attempting to drag down my eyelids due to a bit of sleep inertia that still had a hold on me. I then stretched my arms upwards, causing a crack in my back to echo throughout the big and empty room.

Having had finished waking up, I proceeded to look down towards my left leg, noticing that there was a hole in my black pants exactly where my injury was located. It was ripped and rough with the edge of the hole being covered with a dark layer of red, showing the dried blood that had spilled onto the pants. Through the hole, I was able to see the purple, bruised, and bloated skin of my leg, meaning that my leg had healed decently throughout the time in which I was unconscious. It was still hurting like hell but at the very minimum, there wasn't a gaping hole in it.

With some curiosity, I tried to stand up on my left leg to feel for its condition, however, I learned almost immediately that my leg was still incredibly sore and sensitive. The moment I had begun shifting my weight on it, I groaned heavily due to the immense discomfort that I had experienced before I had to surrender to the pain, letting myself fall back on my bed where it would no longer hurt.

Having had failed with my endeavor, I took to looking over to my left arm and into my black and red digital watch, noticing that it was 5:46 in the afternoon. By the looks of it, I was out for almost a whole sixteen hours, an amount that was astonishingly low when considering how terrible my condition was last night. If I remembered correctly, the last time I had experienced an injury of such a scale, I was out for almost an entire day, so to know that I had only been out for half the time was surprising.

Oh, and did I mention that I smelled like a musty piece of shit too? Every time I moved a body part, a foul stench crawled into my sinuses, coming close to burning my damn nose hairs. The smell of rotten blood, sweat, and flesh was reeking throughout my clothing and bed, meaning that I needed to change my clothes, my sheets, and take a shower badly. As a matter of a fact, If I had to smell this stench for another sixty seconds, I'd probably end up breaking my nose to save my sanity. Of course, my only problem is: How the hell am I going to move out of this damn bed?

Giving it a second shot, I tried to stand up again, only with more effort this time around. Instantly, as a result, my leg demanded me to sit back down. I honestly wanted to scream with every nerve I had because of this pain I was going through.

Even though I had an intense pain making its course all around my left leg, I didn't give in to my innate desire to sit back down. Don't get me wrong, it was pretty difficult to go against my yearning instincts but damn, I needed to take a shower.

After an excruciatingly slow attempt to stand straight, I tried to take a step with my left leg to test if whether or not I could tolerate walking with it. Unfortunately, just as I was expecting, I ended up limping and almost instantaneously placed my right foot forward so that I could take all of my weight and place it on my only sound and healthy leg. Wanting to try again, I then took another step with my left foot which only repeated the same action as before. It was agonizing but at the very least I was managing to simply pull through.

My limping continued up until I reached my bedroom door. Using my bedroom wall as support, I placed my left hand on the wall next to my door and used my right hand to turn the knob and push the door forward. Afterward, as fast as I could've gone, I moved forward so that it wouldn't shut away my exit. By the time the door swang back, I was already halfway through the doorway, therefore, to avoid it slamming into me, I pushed it forward again with my right arm and kept it at an arm's reach. Slowly and carefully, I then finished limping through the doorway and let my door swing right back into its perfect position in the wall.

Now my next set of actions was to limp to my right, go past the staircase that leads to the first floor, and head down the hallway and into my bathroom. The whole trial couldn't have been any slower, boring, and painful but in the end, I managed to make it inside my bathroom. As I was in my spacious bathroom, I turned to my left and opened a big wooden cabinet that held multiple sets of clothing which were all identical to the ones that I was already wearing along with a couple of towels.

Clumsily I stood on my right leg and picked out my whole outfit. I collected a black t-shirt, a black pair of pants, a pair of black socks, and a garment of underwear along with a clean folded towel. After that, I began to slowly and awkwardly undress and placed my foul odored clothing into an empty hamper located next to the cabinet. Finally, after all of my struggles, I managed to get into the bathtub and began to let the water run over my sweaty and musty body.

The rest is nothing but procedural. I washed my body as best I could, dried myself off, and then changed into a clean outfit. It was rather difficult to clean myself but at the very least I no longer smell like a walking dead piece of flesh.

After my body's clean up, I left the bathroom and went downstairs to my kitchen where I looked around to see if there was anything that I could make with as little movement as possible. After surveying in my head all of the food items I had gathered the past three days, I made my choice to consume a good healthy meal of three apples and water, mostly because my leg was being too much of a bitch and I didn't feel like walking around back and forth trying to make anything else.

After picking out everything that I was going to eat, I made my way towards the dining table near the exit of my home and sat down. I then proceeded to consume my food and beverage items as I simply stared into space, letting my mind wander into itself in the process.

_I currently have an injured leg which is still healing. If I manage to, I could go to sleep to speed up the process, but, I don't feel any bit of sleepiness and chances are I'll feel like utter shit if I sleep any longer than I already have. Not only that but my room still smells like absolute garbage since I have yet to clean and change my sheets and pillows. Man, this blows. At the very least I am done with all of my chores so I don't have to worry about having to get anything else done for a good while now._

_Still, having an injured leg makes my life boring as shit. I could've been swimming in the lake right now. I was looking forward to a relaxing and cool morning but my leg wants to be a piece of shit. How much longer is this going to take anyway? There's no longer a hole in it, but the insides feel so dull and sensitive that it feels like I still have the hole inside there. Every time I try to exert my muscles down there it feels as if there is a blade consistently rocking in and out. Fuck everything._

Before I knew it, I had already swallowed my pitifully small breakfast because of all of my thinking. All that was on my clean, wooden table was a glass that was empty of any liquids. Since I was too lazy to return to my kitchen, I chose to leave my glass on the table and began to make my way out of the house.

After I opened the door, a cool and bright atmosphere greeted all of my senses. The cool temperature greeted my skin, the bright sunlight greeted my eyes, and the smell of fresh grass greeted my nose. Throughout my vision, I was able to see multiple wooden houses lined up next to each other down the smooth stone path that extended from my home. Each house had a nice, fresh, and healthy garden that extended enough so that each home was separated by a decent amount of distance. Bright colored flowers were capable of being spotted in some of the gardens, and, if you looked closely enough, you could spot an occasional insect flying from one flower to the other.

Along with pain I began to walk between the houses and made my way to my favorite place in the entire village. Without taking too long, I arrived at an open, circular grass field that was vast and open, so open that one would have to walk for about ten minutes to get from one side to the other. In the middle of the luscious green circle, there was a gigantic tree that dominated the terrain in height, standing so tall that it managed to impose some pressure due to its height alone.

The area was almost completely quiet since there wasn't anything anywhere to make any noise. Not only that, but the terrain's brightness was beginning to darken as the sun in the sky was beginning to set, readying the landscape for the darkness that would soon swallow the world.

Once I was close enough to the trunk of the tree, I laid down on my back and turned my head so that I was able to look at the huge collection of leaves and branches above me. My leg was still bothering me but at this point, I had chosen to tough it out against the pain. After all, in a couple of days, I would be fine again to do whatever it was that I may want to do, and right now, I wanted to relax and enjoy my favorite spot as best as I could.

The silence was very relaxing and refreshing, and even though I had just woken up from sleep, I was able to stay completely relaxed as if I was tired again. Slowly I began to close my eyes and began to drift into my mind which was empty and clear of everything. Before I knew it, every bit of sound was gone from my surroundings. The only thing I was able to hear was my breathing and my calm heartbeat.

"Thank you." A soft voice suddenly spoke from behind me.

_Hm? The hell?_

The moment I heard her voice I opened my eyes and turned my head, facing the female who was standing in place, looking straight into my eyes with her grey irises. She had her hands cupped together, in front of her torso, twiddling her fingers as if she was conflicted. Although her body language showed signs of nervousness, her facial expression was mostly, _expressionless_. I couldn't read her face for anything and her voice sounded as if it was empty of emotion.

Regardless of her body language though, her flawless beauty had struck me with familiarity. She was the person who I had saved. How the hell did I manage to forget about her already?

As I looked over her, I noticed that she was perfectly fine as there were no signs of pain or wounds anywhere on her body, a visual that was the complete opposite of when I had last seen her. As so, I found myself slightly surprised to find out that she had already recovered fully, especially since I was still in the process of doing so myself.

Even though she seemed okay, for some reason, something about her put me on the edge. I found myself tense from her presence, a fact that disturbed me as I didn't even understand why.

"For what?" My rough voice sounded the question, possibly giving a tone as if I was bothered. It was a redundant question as I already knew what her gratitude was for, but I needed something to work off of her for conversation.

"For saving me. You got me out of a tough situation. I just wanted to thank you for what you've done for me." Her voice still sounded empty as if she was saying the line out of obligation.

"Oh, yeah. Your welcome, I guess." Right after I spoke, I then turned my head back to the position it was on and closed my eyes again.

I don't know how much time had passed, but for a while my surroundings were completely silent, so silent that I would periodically open my eyes lightly while turning my head to check if the girl was still standing there, only to find out multiple times that she was indeed standing there, looking around as if she wanted me to say something.

"Something wrong?" I asked after the fifth time I checked to see if she was still around me.

"Not really."

"Then why are you just standing there? It's kind of uncomfortable for you to be right here with me."

"Oh, sorry. It's just that I don't have anything to do."

"Isn't there something that grabs your attention or anything that can occupy you? There's a good number of things to do here in this village."

"You're the only thing that grabs my attention." Her reply caught me somewhat off guard that I almost choked on my spit. Had her voice not been empty, I would've taken it for something else already.

"I grab your attention? How so?" I inquired.

"Your body." _What_?

"What about my body?"

"Possible wounds. I remember seeing bad wounds on your body when I woke up over by the grass at the entrance of this village. You had a hole in your leg. I remember it clearly when I carried you to your house." _Heh, so that's how I ended up on my bed_.

"Oh, yeah. I'm mostly okay. It is still sore and the pain is incredibly dull whenever I try to walk but I can deal with it. It'll be fine within a couple of days."

"Can I see it?"

"What?"

"Can I see your leg? So that I can see your wound."

"Uhh..." I was hesitant to say yes to that question, mostly because I was wearing joggers and for her to see my injured leg, I would have to take them off, and, the thing is, I don't think I am comfortable doing this type of thing with this random girl. "No, it's okay. There's no need for me to do that."

"Why not?"

"Don't feel comfortable doing so."

"All you have to do is take off your pants. There's nothing difficult about that."

"Maybe in the physical aspect of it, yes, it isn't too difficult. But because I don't know you, I don't feel comfortable."

"Just take your pants off and let me see your wound." _You're being persistent, you know that?_

"Is it that necessary?"

"Yes. I want to do something for you to make up for what you did for me."

"What exactly are you going to do?"

"Touch it."

"And what is that going to accomplish?"

"Something that'll help you." _Your vague wording isn't proving anything, neither is it explaining anything_.

"Will it hurt?"

"Unlikely."

"Will it feel good?"

"Only if you let me go all the way."

"What does that mean?"

"It'll be exactly as I'm saying if you let me see your leg."

"Can you be more specific?"

"No."

"Why not?" Right after I asked, the girl ended up walking in front of me and then lowered herself on my right leg, straddling me there before proceeding to lower herself so close to my face that she was only a couple of centimeters or so away from mine, the closeness only feeling stronger as her shining eyes were staring into mine. Her clean and clear face was completely observable from my eyes, and her closeness allowed for her breathing to land and disperse on my skin. Naturally, as a result, her warm breath slowly warmed my face, and that was on top of the fact that the warmth of her entire body was already being felt by mine. To be frank, she was very close, so close that we could've been kissing.

As if her positioning wasn't already enough, she replied: "I want to help you as thanks for helping me."

"Is there a reason for you to be this close?"

"No, not this close as I am right now. But I do need to be near you." As she spoke, the girl placed her hands on my chest before she pushed her upper body away from me, allowing me to feel her tender hands on my chest through my thin t-shirt in the process, causing me to flinch slightly as a result. Due to this event, I was honestly becoming confused as to whether or not this girl was trying to seduce me since it was hard to tell when her facial expression was unreadable and her voice was almost in a complete monotone.

"Fine, you can take a look, even though I have no damn clue as to why you want to." As best as I could've, I sat up and began to remove my pants while the girl was simply in front of me, still straddling my right leg. Of course, her being on top of me still wasn't really useful in terms of practicality.

As if she read my mind, she lifted herself away from my right leg and kneeled right next to me, still watching me. I was tense for sure as I didn't know how it quickly came to this tiny event, but I continued, only telling myself to get it over with. Once I was able to get my left leg free, I extended it and straightened it to the best of my abilities, showcasing the great purple bruise that was located on my lower leg, covering a good portion of it. My leg was pretty swollen and looked to be in bad condition, to say the least.

For a minute, the girl in front of me simply stared at the injury as I simply stared at her full of confusion.

 _I unclothed my leg as she requested and after everything she just said, she's just going to stare at it_?

Her eyes seemed a little sharp as if she was attempting to examine the incredibly obvious problem that I contained. Little by little, she moved her head a little higher or horizontally, as if she was trying to view as much of the leg as possible from her location. After she was done, she then looked at me straight into my eyes.

"Can I touch it?" Her question could not have been any more predictable.

"Sure. Just, be careful. It hurts like shit if you put too much pressure."

As I gave her the confirmation that she could proceed with her request, I watched her carefully, trying to pinpoint her reasoning for her action. At first, she simply had one of her fingers slightly poke my skin with caution. Then, she moved on to sliding her one finger down and around my leg, as if she was trailing it, trying to gauge the overall bruise. Then, she began to use the rest of her palm. Her hands were incredibly delicate and tender. My skin was confused as to whether cry of impending pain or if to enjoy the joyful and light touch she was giving.

As she did what she was doing, I was holding my breath and simply waited for her to finish or for something to happen. The fact that she was taking her sweet time only made me tenser since she kept touching me more and more.

"Does it hurt you when I touch you like this?" Her empty voice rang my ears out of tension, clearing my head, and letting me breathe at ease again.

"No, not really. For the most part, it's nothing to even describe."

"You're tense. I can feel your leg flex a little every time I drag my hand. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't hurting you."

"Oh, okay. Just, please hurry up with whatever it is that you're doing."

"Sure." Her hand immediately left my leg, so now, she was simply staring at it again. "Well, your leg seems to have healed pretty well over the time that you were asleep, although, it's obvious that it's not in any condition for perfect use." Once again, her hand then resumed its previous action of trailing up and down my leg, only that this time it was a little different.

Little by little my leg began to feel... warm. It was... tingly. It felt... nice. It was a cozy and comforting sensation, one that I couldn't describe. The best that I could say was that it was... relaxing somehow.

As the feeling grew stronger, I noticed that on my leg, a green light began to glow on my skin, slowly growing stronger over time. Not only was the light growing stronger on top of my skin, but I also noticed that the light was stemming from the girl's hands. It was more than obvious that this tampering was all from her as her gaze was growing serious, almost as if she was paying close attention as to what was happening in front of her.

If I had to guess, chances are, this girl was healing my leg.

"You can heal people?" The question was basic but it was good enough to start a new conversation.

"Yes, I can, although, it isn't too effective. It takes me a while to heal even small wounds depending on how much energy I have." Her expression was still stern and displaying focus, almost as if she was going to dismiss my question.

"Energy? Are you talking about some form of _magical_ energy?" In this world, a lot of things don't make too much sense when you try to piece occurrences together. Because of that fact, things such as skeleton's weaponry suddenly despawning when they are eliminated, the world bringing monsters at night, and the way my leg naturally began numbing and healing itself rather quickly for the injury it sustained are all not worth paying too much mind for.

The fact that I am witnessing the power of this girl is not too surprising to me.

"No, I'm simply referring to my physical energy and mental state. The more tired or emotional I am, the less effective my healing becomes."

"Really? So you're capable of using this power indefinitely, under proper conditions?"

"Well, technically I could, but just like you, I need food, water, and sleep to function well. If my body lacks any of those needs, I'll end up struggling to keep my power going. Not only that but I need to remain as calm and focused as possible. If I am in disarray, I won't be able to do anything at all."

"Interesting..." As I said that, I paid one last bit of attention to my leg before I chose to lay all the way down on my back to regain a sense of comfort by looking at the leaves above.

_My leg has healed pretty well ever since she started her little process, but I can tell that she wasn't kidding when she said that this takes her a while. Right now, the delay between her telling me that I'm good to go from the point she started is considerably long. If this was to happen in the middle of combat, it would be completely ineffective. The light it shows in the dark, the length it takes for the full effect to arise, the conditions needed for the power to work properly, and the vulnerability it puts on the participants are all nothing but signatures for a death wish._

_If that power didn't need so many prerequisites and had a stronger effect, it would be incredibly powerful. To be able to pull away from a battle for approximately five to ten seconds to completely restore one's self would be nothing short of divine. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be the case._

_The more complicated topic is that there is probably more to her power than what she has chosen to tell me. In the end, the idea and place of magic in a world are incredibly intricate if one would think about it._

_The fact that I've met someone now with this type of power is intriguing. I have so many questions_.

After several minutes of thinking, I began my questioning.

"Can you strengthen that power?"

"For the most part, I think I can, but I don't know any effective process to do so."

"What do you mean?"

"I've had this power for the longest time and my power has changed somewhat from when I was younger. It seems that having a strong and athletic body seems to help the strength of my power, but apart from that, I don't know if anything else can enhance it."

 _"_ Have you tried anything else?"

"I have tried a form of _stamina_ training to enhance it. I would simply try to sustain my power for a longer duration of time than I'd be used to, but every single time I did so, I would always end up stopping at a similar point in time as any other attempt. I couldn't extend the duration of its use no matter how many times I tried. Later on, I tried to meditate so that I could enhance my ability to focus but that idea didn't help much either. In conclusion, strengthening my body was the only thing that was somewhat effective."

After her explanation, I felt the warmth on my leg slowly disperse and disappear, signaling me that whatever was affecting it was going away. I sat back up to see that my leg was no longer bloated, purple, or aching but was instead clean, stable, and in perfect condition. My leg was completely healed. There was no sign of injury.

To test my leg, I leaned forward and began to push down on the muscle heavily to only find out that it didn't ache horrendously as it would've before. Afterward, I extended and retracted my legs into the air slightly only to find out that exerting the muscle wasn't causing pain either. It had been truly healed.

"Damn. The injury is completely gone." Since there was no reason for me to have my leg exposed anymore, I began to put my joggers back on fully while the girl was simply staring at me. It was kind of tense for me, but I figured that I should just get used to it.

"Yeah, although it took me a while for me to heal you completely. Sorry if the wait troubled you." She apologized even though she did something useful for me.

"This isn't something to apologize for. The fact that you healed me through the wait makes up for the delay." I began to stand up to get a feel for my leg again. Just as I thought, it didn't hurt at all.

"It seems that you're in perfect condition now."

"Of course. Anyways, about your power, is there any way for you to change the way it works?"

My question seemed to have been a difficult one since the girl ended up giving me a confused look. Maybe I should've worded it differently.

"What do you mean?"

"Can you change the way it can heal someone? As in, instead of having to be next to the person in need, is there a way to make it ranged so that you can heal the person from afar?"

"I don't think I've ever really succeeded in changing the way it works. I think that I'd have to increase its effectiveness to be able to do such a thing first, right? I mean, if I can't increase its strength when I am next to the person, then how would I be able to maintain its strength over distance?"

_She's right. If she can't enhance it, then how could she change it? It was a stupid question to ask now that I think about it._

"So physique is the only factor for you then?" Instinctually, I began to stare at the girl in front of me who kept her attention on the guy who asked the semi-rhetorical question.

In terms of physique, she was at a peak. Her face didn't have any excess fat, neither did she have any form of acne. Her face was clean and symmetrical, giving her face an alluring picture of beauty. Her white hair seemed incredibly clean, smooth, and silky, especially as it shined in response to the light that bounced from it. Whenever her head turned, her hair would move and flow mythically.

Her eyes, due to them being almost completely grey, shined with alluring emptiness and mystery. Her teeth, whenever she talked, would shine due to their consistent whiteness.

The rest of her body only complemented the grace that her face displayed. Her arms were slender and hairless and yet they showed signs of having toned muscle. Her hands were soft and tender in touch while her nails were cut evenly and cleanly. Her torso contained the ever so powerful hourglass figure. Her white shirt showed the shape and roundness of her breasts which were proportionate to the size of her body. Her breasts weren't big, but neither were they small. Due to her shirt having had also been tattered from the bottom, it seemed as if it was a makeshift crop top which showed her curves and flat yet strengthened abdomen. There was no excess fat anywhere but instead only toned muscle.

Her legs were no different in condition as the rest of herself. They were toned as one could see the muscle which lightly shaped the bottom half of her bodily hourglass. The fact that she was wearing short denim shorts only accentuated her curves and lower half even further.

Her physicality screamed beauty and sexiness in one. If I had met her next to some form of clean, mythical spring lake, I wouldn't blame myself if I came to believe that she was a goddess above all else.

"Yes, I believe so." She responded to my question which resulted in the abrupt end of my visual examination. I looked over to her face, only to notice that she was blushing slightly, a result of her having had noticed my gaze on her.

 _Shit. I may have stared for too long_.

As best as I could've, I put on a poker face and tried to remain neutral in expression so that the newfound awkwardness I created didn't grow. It was quite embarrassing to have to realize such a thing.

"Well, I'm out of questions for now." I didn't have anything to ask or say anymore, and as so, I chose to begin walking back to my house. As a result of my movement, however, I noticed that the girl had begun to follow behind me in sync, not missing a beat with my movement.

 _This girl behaves like a drone_...

I looked down at my watch to notice that it was 6:37 PM. The sky above me was beginning to darken as the sun slowly began to hide behind the horizon. Due to the size of the walls around my village, however, a big shadow began to cast over the village from one direction, limiting the natural light that the land would've naturally received. Instead, the mass number of torches around the land began to fully run their purpose, shining the yards of houses, the smooth stone walkways, and the open areas around the location.

The walls were tall, taller than what I originally wanted. They towered over the village, guaranteeing complete protection from the dangers of the outside. Although they grant great protection, they took me a hell of a lot of time to make even though structures in this world aren't difficult to make. It took me about a month to finish those damn things. I'm just glad that they were worth it.

 _Well, now that my leg has been healed, I think I'm going to go over to the lake. There's nothing else to do after all_.

Towards the south end of my village, there is a natural, indefinitely clean lake. Because it never got dirty and because it was close to the houses and the gigantic tree, I chose to surround the lake with the gigantic walls too for personal enjoyment. Whenever I wanted to release some stress, I would simply relax and swim around the lake, appreciating the cool and refreshing water.

After everything I've described in my village, I'm sure many would assume that it's huge, and they wouldn't be wrong assuming that. I _did_ put a lot of time into this place after all.

"What are you going to do?" The soft voice behind me asked.

"I'm going to go take a swim in a lake south of my village."

"A lake?"

"Yes. A lake."

"Can I go with you?" _You're already following me and you live here, I don't think there's a reason for you to ask me for permission anymore_.

"Sure, but if you plan to swim, I suggest that you take a towel with you."

 _Technically, you also need a set of underwear, assuming that you're not going to swim naked anyways_.

"Where do I get a towel from?" _What?_

"From whatever house you live in."

"Oh, so I could live here?" _Wait, she hasn't picked out a place to sleep in yet?_

"Yeah, you can. I don't care what you do as long as it doesn't cause me problems. Pick whichever house you want to live in. As for the towel, just follow me to my home. I'll give you one of my spare towels so we can save time."

"Oh, thank you. I appreciate your accommodation."

"I'm just surprised that you haven't picked a house yet. The hell did you do when you woke up? How long have you been conscious anyway?"

"Well, I've been conscious ever since the morning I think, and all I've done was heal you so that the hole in your leg would disappear, take you to your home, and wander outside of this village. I wasn't sure if you'd want me here by the time you woke up so I went around looking for a place to go, but I couldn't settle on anything since I don't even have a weapon. I just figured that I'd wait for you to wake up so I can ask you if I could use anything in the village, but I didn't take into consideration how long it would've taken you to wake up."

_Hm, so she healed me back then too? That would make sense of how my leg was only bruised when I woke up. Usually, an injury of that scale would leave me fucked since my body can't naturally heal fast enough to compensate for the loss. The worst I've ever experienced in terms of injuries was a gaping slash on my right arm, but that injury was nowhere near as bad as having a hole._

After pondering a lot of random details, we reached the door to my home. I opened the door and entered the house which was illuminated by the orange lighting of the torches inside. The girl behind me followed closely, so close that she almost bumped into me as I slowed down to open the door. Afterward, I began to make my way to the bathroom to pick up the towels and an extra pair of underwear for myself.

"I can't believe that you waited all that time just for my permission. I brought you here by my own choice you know. I don't understand why you would have to wait for my permission so strictly."

"I understand your point of view. However, I wasn't so sure of your motives. You may have saved me, but I wanted to know why first. I was so close to death that I felt that it may have been pointless to save me. I don't remember anything well, but I know that whatever you did put you in great danger because when I woke up, I noticed a gaping hole in your leg. To me, it didn't make sense that you'd simply _save_ me."

 _Hmm, this girl is either smart or cynical. I guess from her point of view, it really would be confusing if some guy just came to save her. We are in a world of survivalism after all_.

"You sound as if you were wary of me."

"That is because I was. Even if you put me in safety, it doesn't mean you're not a bad person. For all I know, you could've kept me as a prisoner or some sort of slave."

_Well, isn't that dark? What type of expectations have you implanted in yourself? You aren't holding me up to those expectations either, are you?_

"That is one hell of an expectation." I didn't know what to say to that. Her response hinted at some form of personal experience to me and I didn't want to get myself wrapped in her matters.

I can tell that whatever this topic came to be was quite a personal one since the girl behind me stopped talking and rose silence instantly, either that, or she had nothing else to say to me. I simply made my way to the bathroom and picked up the towels, ignoring the fact the girl behind was extremely quiet to the point that it didn't feel natural, even though I had recently met her.

Once the towels were in my hand, I turned to the girl and handed her the towel that she might choose to put to use. She took it even though her gaze was pointed towards the floor. She wasn't herself.

I simply walked past her and made my way back to the front door. Procedurally, I walked out with the girl behind still keeping close. I then turned to my right and walked straight down the stone path which guided us both to the pure lake. For the longest time, I could only hear my footsteps along with hers. Even though I tried my best to remain stoic, the tension was beginning to wear me out and the silence was deafening me as if it was trying to tell me that I should say something. For the first time in years, I was not enjoying the bliss of silence.


	4. Unforeseen Commotion

_This awkwardness is surreal. I can't even think about walking right now because of this tense feeling.  
_  
We walked for a little while as we made progress to our little destination. Occasionally, I would turn around to check on her only to find out that she was staring at the floor. She wasn't making any noise apart from her footsteps and that very fact wasn't pleasing me in any way. After a while, I just couldn't handle it. I needed some form of noise between the two of us.

 _Where did you come from? What happened at the cave? Those are decent questions to ask, right? No, wait. They may force her to explain something complicated. If that's the case, what can I ask her instead? How was her morning? I can't ask her that, I don't care about that type of small talk. How about whether she likes the village? No, I don't care about that type of answer either.  
_  
"How long have you lived here?" Her voice knocked me out of my train of social inadequacy. I guess it would only be natural for her to take the initiative, right?

"Pretty long."

"Are you the only one here?"

"Yeah, I am."

"How come?"

"No particular reason. There just hasn't been anyone here. If anything, empty is how this village has always been. You're the first occupant apart from me."

"The first occupant? That can't be. This village looks as if it was already housing a community."

"Well, I made this village all by myself, and ever since, apart from you, I had never run into anyone. It's just the reality of everything."

"You made this village by yourself?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"Time. Nothing but a lot of time."

Once again, the silence returned, although this time it was a lot more bearable for me. Not only that, but we had finally reached our destination. In front of us was a wide, open, crystal clear water lake. In a way, the term 'lake' might not be the most fitting term for the water pocket as I had made the choice to remove all of the dirt around it and changed it for cobblestone instead. I also placed a good number of torches around it to light it up during the night and to make it a little more "fancy". As a result, the lake looks more like an open bath than an actual lake.

Regardless, I turned around to face the woman accompanying me. She seemed to have caught interest in the scenery as her eyes were darting everywhere behind me. I was able to see her pupils swiftly skimming over the lights all over the lake and the lake itself. In a way, her face looked like that of a child's. It was a little relieving to know that her little dark personal phase was over as I had no interest to spend time with someone with those types of feelings.

Without realizing it, I ended up looking at her directly into her eyes. After a moment of her visually analyzing her newfound surroundings, she then laid her eyes on me and connected our gazes herself. Immediately afterward though, her gaze moved elsewhere apart from my eyes, showing how she was uncomfortable with having to look at me directly.

"You seem to have done a lot of work around here. Everything looks visually pleasing." She commented as she walked past me and got closer to the lake. Following her movement with my eyes, I turned around and walked closer along with her. Afterward, she stopped right before the ridgeline into the lake and then proceeded to crouch down before dipping one of her fingers into the water. As you might've guessed, she was testing the water for its temperature.

"It's not... cold?" Her gaze met mine, this time with her face giving off a confused look.

"Yeah. Surprising, isn't it? Somehow it's never cold or too hot. Almost always perfect."

"Well, that's an interesting thing to hear. Any particular reason as to why this lake is like that?"

"No clue."

"Oh... Well, whatever the reason may be, it sure makes this lake nice and likable." She stood up and then faced me. Her face, this time, was showing some form of stiffness. As a man, I somehow instinctively knew what that face meant.

"You're going to become uncomfortable about undressing now? I'm sure that thought came to your head when you initially requested to come here, right?" I already knew that whatever her answer was going to be one of bashfulness. I expected it.

"Sorry. It didn't cross my mind that I'd have to do something like this in front of a man." Her face was beginning to grow red, showing me how she was getting flustered from her realization.

_Well, she was having her little fit, so I guess I'll just let her be._

"I'll let you be here on your own. When you're done, look for me in my home so that I could have my turn. You don't have to worry about anything here bothering you since I've done this a million times already. If you need anything from me, don't be afraid to ask. That being said, have a nice bath." I sighed after giving my little statement, all while I proceeded to put down my towel and my underwear nearby before I began walking away.

 _I guess I'll have to wait. Eh, whatever. I have to go sort out some tools and weapons as it is. I might as well get started on those while I wait. I do need to go back to that cave area to retrieve my dropped supplies if they're still there.  
_  
"On second thought, I guess it was kind of absent-minded of me to not have realized this type of thing sooner. You don't have to leave. I don't want to inconvenience your leisure time." Her voice forced me to turn around. Her gaze was nowhere near close to meeting mine as her eyes were essentially looking at the darkening sky above. Her face was lighting up somewhat red and she was starting to tap her left foot on the floor. As a result of her body language, I couldn't help but sigh. It was clear that she was forcing herself even though she was uncomfortable with the suggestion.

"Don't force yourself. If you're not comfortable then I'd rather just leave. Like I said before, just look for me when you're done." I could tell she wanted to say something since I heard her softly mumble something, but at that point, I just wanted to move things forward. If she wasn't fully comfortable, I didn't want to force her or have her force herself. It would only make things uncomfortable for the two of us.

As I hoped, she didn't say anything to me as I walked away. Without any interruptions, I faced forward and kept walking, not letting my gaze wander just in case if she were watching me.

Before I knew it, I was back in my own home in the grand living room where the furnace, an anvil, and a workbench were located. As if it were second nature, I began messing around with some iron ore, smelted iron bars and made use of other little materials to begin making a set of tools. First, I made an iron sword as I needed a new weapon. Then, I worked on making a new iron ax since I'd need one in the long run since the one I had left behind might not be there anymore. Lastly, I made another iron pickaxe and placed that into storage.

Somehow those things didn't take long. Forging and smithing wasn't a complicated thing for me. Although, one can argue that the speed at which I work is rather unrealistic. Regardless, I continued working and refining the tools as a means of passing time. As I was working on those tools, I ended up thinking about a bunch of things as usual.

 _So tomorrow, I'm going to have to go and try to find my supplies and my ax if possible. I also need to make a book bag again now that I think about it. If my supplies are gone, then it means that I also have to return to the forest and chop up some trees again. It would also benefit me to find more fruit and animals to kill. I may have to separate those tasks though. It'd be way too much to deal with and carry all at once. In that case, if I go to sleep early today, I can wake up early tomorrow. I can spend my morning looking for the supplies. If I find them, then I'll simply return. If not, then I'll make wood my priority. Chances are, if I don't waste too much time, I can finish the wood gathering by the afternoon. After that, I could go on a little hunting spree and gather some food ingredients too. That all being said, do I need anything else? I don't think there's anything that I am particularly lacking.  
_  
For a little while, I scratched my memory in an attempt to try to remember any problems that I may have had. I kept thinking and as time passed, my thoughts changed from one topic to another. Before I knew it, I was thinking about little meaningless things.

 _Why do monsters spawn at night? Isn't it surprising how many of them can show up? Why is the sky blue? Why does it turn orange when the sun is setting? If I sat on a voodoo doll of myself, would I ever be capable of getting up again? How small are the smallest things to exist? Why does my body naturally heal on its own as long as my injuries aren't instantaneously lethal? Why am I questioning these things?  
_  
Before I knew it, I had made the tools that I needed and found myself just sitting down in one of the chairs of the room. I was somewhat bored and I didn't have a clue as to how much time had passed since I had gotten home. As a result, I began organizing my materials back into storage. Little by little, I placed the particular materials in the specified chests and shelves that they belonged in. As I was doing so, I also ended up coming across some string. In an instant, a picture flashed in my head. It was a visual of the girl back when I had found her. I remembered clearly her injuries along with the monstrous noises that had surrounded the open area. I then remembered the fact that she was holding a broken bow in her hand.

Without any particular thoughts running in my head, I kept staring at the string. I then began looking for some wood, feathers, and some flint. Before I knew it, I ended up working on a bow, and a pretty strong one at that. I didn't know why I was doing what I was doing, all I knew is that for some reason I felt inclined to make it. Time slowly passed and at the same time, a bow was shaping through my work along with arrows. By the time I was done, I had made a pretty sturdy and strong wooden bow along with around a stack of arrows. I could've made more arrows but I no longer had any wood to work with.

Since I was no longer able to work with wood, I then moved on to working with some leather. I ended up making multiple quivers for the arrows. I figured that it could come useful since I doubt that it would be practical to carry so many arrows by hand or in pockets. Lastly, I ended up making another backpack just in case if I were to need it for something. After all, my first one could be gone as I've said before.

At this point, I was drained mentally and was just laying back on a chair in the living room again. I placed the bow, arrows, and quivers on a little table near the exit, that way I wouldn't lose them or easily forget where I placed them. By habit, I ended up looking at my watch to find out that it was nearly 8:00 PM.

 _Damn, how long has that girl been bathing for? I could've sworn that I told her to notify me when she was done. Did she forget?  
_  
I kept staring at my watch, yawning as my mental exhaustion was slowly changing into actual physical exhaustion. I was starting to get sleepy and I wanted to go to bed, but of course, I wasn't planning to without taking a bath. After all, I was sweaty and slightly smelly from the smithing and crafting. I was somewhat drenched in sweat and the fact that the room was still hot from the furnace wasn't helping. With a little reluctance, I stood up and walked towards the exit. Right before I walked out, I ended up looking at the new bow for a little bit. I was contemplating whether I should give it to her now or tomorrow.

 _I should probably give it to her tomorrow. Chances are, she might be as tired as I am. I doubt she'll need a replacement right off the bat since I already gave her permission to live here. But then again, she might prefer to be armed. This is essentially her first night and she might not that comfortable to live her on her own. She might not be used to it.  
_  
I looked at the bow for a couple of more seconds before I just snickered at myself.

 _Eh, I'll give it to her later_.

Without restraint, I walked outside and sat down on the steps of the porch of my house. The cool night felt refreshing as the sweat on the exposed parts of my body was being cooled by the atmosphere. I looked up towards the sky and looked at the revealed night sky along with the bright stars that were shining down into the land. The only thing I was able to hear was my breathing and the slight breezes that blew by now and then.

As relaxing as it was to just sit on my porch, it was boring and I needed a bath. At first, I waited a couple of minutes, but then those couple of minutes became ten minutes. After a while, it became twenty minutes. Point is, I was waiting for an extraordinary amount of time.

 _What the hell is this girl doing? It's almost 8:30 PM already. She should've been done by now. Did she drown or something? You know what? Fuck it. I've waited long enough. If she gets mad, then oh well.  
_  
I got up from my porch and made my way to the open lake bath. When I got there, I looked around slowly and carefully with hope in that I'd be able to spot some sort of trace from her. I looked around for a little bit but I was surprised to see that there was little to no trace in that she was there at all. The only signal of her past presence was a water trail that lasted somewhat around the ridgeline of the bath, a sign that showed of her having had gotten out while wet. Apart from that water trail, there was nothing. Not only that, but my towel was gone along with my underwear. The fact that they were gone puzzled me even more since I doubt she'd have any use for them since she has her clothing and had brought a towel.

As if it was instinct, I looked around the area to see if maybe I was just blind or missing some sort of clue. Unfortunately, I was unable to find anything that may have belonged to her or me. It was perplexing on some level, but in all honesty, I was tired and my inclination to care was almost nonexistent. Chances are, she may have just chosen to go home or something.

Without any hesitation, I began to lift my shirt to take it off in preparation for my bath, but as soon as I grabbed the edge of it, I instantly sensed something. Without even thinking, I immediately let go of my shirt and turned around while dashing to my right. Right after my dash, an arrow flew towards the left of my torso. Considering its flight path, it was aimed directly for my heart as it had flown level with it. Without hesitation, I immediately began running and made my way behind several bushes around the bath. I then tried to collect my bearings as I tried to figure out the current situation.

 _An arrow came from behind me and directly from the path to get here. Not only that, but I wasn't able to spot anything within my vision when I had turned around. Whatever that was wasn't a skeleton as there is no way in hell that they can be so accurate, not from a distance that I can't even see them. Where the hell did that arrow even come from? There aren't any buildings on the path near here so it couldn't have been anything near here that was hiding.  
_  
As I was thinking, I dug into the ground near the bushes to find a clean and useable iron broadsword along with a smaller dagger. In the case of an emergency, I dug some weapons around certain landmarks in the village for quick armament. I always knew that this village was safe, but it never meant to me that I should be careless. This situation is a clear example of that.

 _There is only one person that I can think of that is capable of using a bow. Please, tell me that wherever that came from, it wasn't from her. Please, please tell me that it wasn't from her.  
_  
My options at the very moment were incredibly limited. My current position and location were open, too open. Whoever shot that arrow has the advantage over me right now. This area made it easy to spot something moving within it, and with their skill, they could easily land a shot on me if I remained stagnant where they could see me. Not only that, but my only cover are these bushes which, unfortunately, won't save me from an arrow from whoever had shot it. If I can't move forward, they'll have me pinned. Not only that, but I don't even know if it is only one person. For all I know, it could be a group.

Before I could consider more thoughts, I sensed another arrow flying towards me. As a result, I immediately jumped leftward to avoid the arrow. As I hoped, the arrow managed to miss me, this time lodging into the ground after having had created an open hole on the bush. At this point, it was clear that I couldn't stay still no matter where I was. As so, I immediately got up and began running down the path into the main village in a diagonal line in hopes that it could somehow make it difficult for my attacker to hit me.

Periodically, I would switch directions. I was also obligated to dash and jump in opposite directions because of the arrows that kept making their way to me. Luckily, it seemed that only one arrow came to me at a time, but the fact that they kept coming at me without too much of a delay between them was worrying. Right now, the only thing that kept me alive was luck. The attacker, after a while, was attempting to compensate for my dodging as an arrow would fly by me instead of hitting me, signaling the fact that he or she was hoping for me to somehow run into it. Somehow my dodging became a psychological game. Before I knew it, I found myself conflicted as to whether or not I should dash or if it was better if I stayed in place.

The good thing, however, was the fact that I was nearing the village, meaning that my ability to move while in cover was about to benefit, but unfortunately, my little plan was going to be put to a little delay. Right as I had laid my eyes on one of the buildings, I sensed multiple arrows coming at me at once. They came aimed directly at me, to my left, and my right. This meant that dodging them was a lot trickier. Not only that, but they were coming at me at the same time, meaning that they were fired together at the same time.

 _Heh, so there is more than one of you. Well isn't this so fucking nice? As if one of you of your skill wasn't enough? Man, I must be good at what I'm doing if it takes three of you cunts.  
_  
This time, I broke immediately to my left, losing all of my momenta to dodge the three arrows. They flew by me in an instant, whistling and crackling loudly. The fact that they flew so fast was surreal. Before I even got to collect my bearings from having had broken my running, I sensed another set of arrows coming my way. Again, I broke towards the left with the same result coming to be.

 _At this rate, they'll have me pinned in the middle of the open. I can't move forward or back anymore. Goddammit. There's no cover and I have no shield or armor. This sword isn't going to save me from this distance either.  
_  
One set of arrows after the other forced me to dash heavily to my left or right continuously, almost in rhythm from their consistency. After a while, the limits of being human was beginning to set in. My stamina was running out and my body would soon collapse if I ignored its need for a break. In the end, I had no other option other than just running towards the village. At this point, with no other options left to be considered, I simply ran straight for the buildings.

The arrows barely missed me every time as I tried to dodge them. Whoever was shooting was getting better the closer I got. Before I knew it, my clothes were getting caught by the arrowheads. It wasn't long before my shirt was nearly nonexistent by the sides. It also wasn't long before the arrows were managing to graze my skin too. As a natural process of nature, it also wasn't long before I suffered an injury.

Due to my reckless approach, and due to the attacker's amazing marksmanship, right before I was clear to wedge and run between the village houses, I caught an arrow to my upper left arm. In an instant, the arrowhead that bored itself into my shoulder burned my skin from the inside. It felt as if someone had stuck a hot knife into my body. The adrenaline in my body began to pump as a result and now there was hot red blood running down my arm. As much as I wanted to, I had to stop myself from screaming. I had finally made it to the little web of alleys of the village houses and I could use them to my advantage for stealth. Screaming would completely compromise that ability so I had to restrain as much sound as I could from myself.

 _Fucking hell this hurts... So I take one to the leg and now another one to the arm? This is great! Is God aiming to hit all of my limbs or something? Fucking hell... Where to now? I lack awareness of this current situation as it is. My best bet would be escaping, but because there is only one exit from here, it would be obvious that they will have it guarded. That being the case, then what? I'm not armed properly for confrontation. Not only that, but I'm already disabled by one arm. I'm injured and bleeding, and I have no way to speed up the healing process.  
_  
As if on cue, my arm was beginning to emit a red glow, signifying that my natural regeneration was about to begin. Because it was night time, the red light would expose me easily between these dark alleyways. As so, with haste, I ended up running as far into the village as I could where the houses were the densest and, before I could even reason, I ran into one of the many houses around. Of course, once I was inside, I immediately closed the door behind me and ran to the basement where the house's storage was located.

I searched the storage and managed to find the average case of medical needs in one of the chests. There were numerous bandages along with some water. It wasn't anything special to treat myself with as the stronger things were all in my own home. Thanks to the natural regeneration, most of my pain was already gone, but my wound was not gone in of itself, and therefore treating it was problematic. Pulling out the arrow would result in heavier bleeding and might be a risk depending on how long my regeneration takes. I may be lucky and may only have to deal with a hole, or I may be unlucky and may have to deal with more than just patching a hole in my body.

I didn't have much time to think so I simply decided to take the reckless route again. Without letting myself think any further, I pulled out the arrow and immediately went to work on the hole. I wasn't able to feel any pain but I knew damn well to not be careless. My blood was pouring out, but considering the lack of nausea and great mental stability, I knew that any veins or arteries were somehow healed already. Now, it was all nothing more than light cleaning and patching. I didn't know what to do exactly since it wasn't often that I got injured like this, so I simply wrapped my shoulder heavily and hoped for the best.

The good news was that the light was no longer showing, meaning that I was now healing from the inside invisibly. Not only that but what I had just done was also enough for me to be considered stable, somehow. The bad news, however, was that the pain returned and that I was still disabled. There is no way I can use my left arm which is a pain since I'm dominant with my left. I can barely swing my broadsword without my dominant, neither will I be able to effectively use my dagger either. My means of self-defense was crippled. At this point, a shield is my only hope along with armor, but all of that garbage is at my main house. Everything is in the main house.

 _Man, for being the person who created this whole place, I never really took into consideration the threat of it being infiltrated. I'm helpless when the main points of interest are easy to spot for the enemy. What should I do? It won't be long until they find me within one of these houses.  
_  
I looked around in the mostly empty basement in hopes that I might find something useful, but in the end, I was only able to find emptiness and garbage. There was nothing in my immediate surroundings that could help me. At this point, my best bet would be to hide. I didn't have much of a choice. No matter what I do, I'm pretty sure I'm going to get caught. At this point, I might as well just wait. Not like I give a shit about anything, in particular, to begin with.

Before my thoughts could become darker, I ended up walking outside the basement and towards the front door of the house. With some desire, because I still had some, I chose to test my luck. I was curious. I wanted to know how much I could do in my condition right now. After all, I didn't have much to lose at this point.

With intent, I put down my iron broadsword and chose to stick to my dagger instead. In this condition, the smaller the weapon, the better for my cause. I then walked out the front door quietly, paying very close attention to my surroundings. I didn't know who I was dealing with, but I can guess pretty damn well that their strength was some form of stealth and assassination. It was natural because I have yet to confirm who I'm dealing with. For all I know, they could be invisible.

Very slowly I walked between the houses, trying my best to work with my injury which was straining me to the depths of hell. I didn't have an exact plan as to what I wanted to do.

 _Should I aim for my home to arm and supply myself? Should I aim for the main gate and escape right off the bat instead? Or should I just see how many I can get rid of before it is all over? I guess I'll take things in steps. First, I need to reach my house. I know for a fact that I have a healing potion in one of the locked chests in the case of an emergency, so if I can get to it, I can then aim to arm myself, and then I can go ahead and see how much carnage can unfold._  
  
Carefully as always, I walked between the alleyways of the houses. Since I built this whole village, it was only natural that I knew my way around. It was a good thing that I built the place on such a grand scale. It made it easier to maintain a low profile.

I walked and walked until I came across a pathway. I was nearing the original stone pathway that leads to the open bath. Very slowly, I walked until I reached the edge of one of the houses that I was sticking my body to for cover. From my position and angle, I was able to get a view of the area in front of my house while being hidden by the shadows. I looked around carefully and tried to examine everything within my field of view. First, I noticed that there were two people standing guard in front of my house. They seemed to be armed with bows, but I couldn't tell well if they had anything else as they were wearing cloaks. They were standing right on the porch, ready and on alert to fire.

Next, I looked towards the rooftops. Luckily, I wasn't seeing anyone up there, meaning that I was clear of any enemies from the opposite side. The only problem is the fact that I wouldn't be able to confirm whether or not there were any on the rooftops on the side of the pathway that I was. Of course, for the sake of the plan, I'll just assume there are and that they have a view on the front door and the pathway leading both to the bath and the main gate. Next, I tried my best to look into the windows of my home. Unfortunately, I was barely able to see some movement from inside. I was capable of spotting moving shadows, but I wasn't able to focus on how many there were. The fact that there are people in my house is problematic in itself, but to know that I can't count the number of enemies made everything even trickier.

At this point, I had to try a little harder if I wanted to do something worthy of saving myself. I couldn't just run out there and my capability of maintaining stealth was low when I was severely outnumbered. I had to try a little harder.

_Let's see how well I can measure up among these cunts._

Slowly I closed my eyes and let my vision become engulfed in darkness. Then, I began to concentrate on my surroundings, trying to visualize everything around me as best as I could. Slowly, in place of darkness, I began to see lines, thin little red lines, signifying the edges of the objects and buildings in front of me. Little by little, the detail of my view became clearer and clearer, allowing me to fully recognize the area around me.

Without greater delay, I was able to see absolutely everything with my eyes closed. Everything was tinted red and was a little distorted, but it was clear enough to see well, even within the darkness. Once I was comfortable with my cleared view, I then tried my best to focus on the people around me. With extreme strain, I focused my mind, trying my best to sense anything alive. I tried to visualize as much detail as I could.

After a moment, the sound of multiple heartbeats started to resonate loudly within my ear, and accompanying the sounds were humanoid figures that were beginning to glow bright yellow. Every time their hearts thumped, they would send off little waves in my sight, revealing each other to my sight, allowing me to see every one of them, even through walls.

Over and over again, I kept hearing little thumps while I looked around. I scanned everywhere around me to get as much information as I could. By the looks of everything, there were three people on the rooftop on the building right in front of my home, there were two stationed outside, and there were three in the inside who were all spread throughout the basement, first floor, and second floor of my home. Apart from all of those in my immediate area, I also took notice of some faint figures far away towards my right. The best assumption would be that some hostiles are watching the entrance, meaning that an escape is no longer an option.

After my assessment, I slowly opened my eyes, causing my vision to become severely brighter, however, after a moment of focus, my vision then became bearable and clear again, the red tint and the glowing figures remaining.

_Good, now I have their constant location, so unless they do something severely unexpected, I have the advantage. I know exactly where each one of them is and they probably have no exact clue on where I am. Now, the question is, what will be my approach? Those three on the roof of this building I'm next to are the biggest threat. They're all scanning the area around them with attention, so sneaking across the street is a no go._

_Those stationed in front of my house are no problem, I could just enter the house from the back, and if those inside stay separated, it will be easy to get rid of them without gaining any attention. It's just those three up there that are my chaos factor. What the hell can I do to get rid of them? If I can't get rid of them, then escaping will be my second plan, but who knows how many of them are back there._

Just thinking about it wasn't going to work, so instead, I began moving. First, I walked around the building in which the rooftop rangers were located, and tried to see if I had a better angle of approach. Little by little, I moved around, avoiding any chance of them turning towards me and checking my alley. After a while, I had the building of the rooftops rangers to my right and had a more direct sight on the house's door. The two stationed were now looking in directions that, from their point of view, would not give them a good angle of where I was. If I moved, it would be easy for them to miss me.

The three on top of me were still looking around, moving as I was able to see them through the building itself. They kept rotating as if they were the ends of a cog, barely leaving an apparent blind spot. I still had no idea how to move them.

"Hey, Ozone wants you three back at the entrance." All of a sudden, a slightly distorted voice echoed into my ear from the roof above. I looked up to see a fourth being standing still.

"What for? We're not done here. We haven't found the straggler." One of the rooftop rangers answered.

"Doesn't matter, get back to the front, Ozone wants you three there. Your roles will change." Without any response, all four of the rooftop rangers disappeared and moved away at once, their figures barely noticeable in my sight due to their distance.

_You're kidding me. Do they have some form of teleportation? And their roles are going to change? Goddammit, this may not work in my favor at all._

Very quickly, I looked to the two stationed in front of my house and looked for them to create a blind spot for themselves. Luckily, the two seemed to have their attention taken by the rooftops who had all of the suddenly moved away, and immediately I went to moving across the street.

As quickly and quietly as I could, I ran across the smooth stone walkway and ended up on the sidewall of my house. I looked at my house to see that the three inside were still separated, all of them stagnant in place either crouching or slouching, meaning that they were looting my items in my drawers and chests.

_Good. This is the most optimal behavior for me to deal with you all._

I walked around my house and headed towards my back door. Once I was there, I slowly and carefully opened the door, paying close attention to the three figures around the house. The one on my floor was around my storage area, so from my location, he was only a couple of rooms away as I was in an empty hallway. He was far away enough from the main entrance so that I could have an easy chance of not alerting the two stationaries outside, and I was confident that the ones above and below wouldn't be able to tell anything as the floors and roofs were solid and somewhat noise-proof.

Slowly and placidly I walked over to him with my dagger in my left hand, readying myself to be able to land any lethal blows to end it quickly and silently. It wasn't long before I was behind the opponent who was immersed in inspecting what was my newly made equipment meant for my plans tomorrow. At that very moment, he was holding an iron ax, looking at the handle slowly, as if inspecting it carefully of its craftsmanship.

Without hesitation, I immediately lunged my dagger right into his back with my pained left arm while covering its mouth with my right hand. Before they had a chance to give any sort of a reaction, I pulled my dagger out of their back and lifted it before jamming it right where their neck was. In an instant, its body went limp and there was no sign of life from it. As confirmation, the beating of its heart was no longer audible and in my ear and his yellow visual became darkened until I could barely tell he was in my grasp.

_One down, two more to go._

Delicately, I placed the body down on my floor, taking note of the fact that my arm was covered in blood. As a result of my kill, now my visioned seemed keener and clearer, and my senses have heightened the point where I was able to hear breathing that wasn't mine. I was getting sharper.

With my new found strength, I then dragged the body quietly but quickly towards the back door. Once there, I opened the door and then laid the body outside and into one of the bigger bushes, hiding the body from a careless sight.

I then went back inside and made my way upstairs. As if I was walking between mines, I walked towards the front area of the first floor near the entrance and then walked up the stairs silently, thanking myself for making them incapable of creaking. My eyes were glued to the figure who was moving about in the area that seemed to be my room. Seeing the way they moved, I planned my next approach accordingly.

Once I was done with the stairs, I walked down the second-floor hallway until I reached my door. I looked at the figure as they were standing in place towards the side of my room which had the window. Due to the way they were inclining their body, it was clear that they were looking out the window. Soon after, they retracted their body and began walking in my direction.

"There's nothing worth on this floor." It seemed they were dissatisfied with my longing area. Regardless, I laid on the wall by my door on the side the door would not be falling on, allowing me to have a clear and easy opening for an attack.

Just as I was secretly hoping, the intruder didn't want to be in my room anymore, and as a result, they opened the door. I was able to tell that this particular one was holding a weapon, probably a knife of some sort due to the look of his hands having had been retracted into his waist area. The second I was able to see his weapon poking through the doorway, I immediately rushed it and used my right hand to restrain his armed hand, smoothly following up with my left hand as I lunged my bloody dagger towards its chest. Quickly, I retracted my dagger out of his chest and then lunged at their neck before they could even make the slightest noise. Just like before, his body went limp the instant I had succeeded, his weapon dropping on my leg signifying the lifeless state they were now in. Just as before, I delicately lowered their body on the floor before moving away.

_Two down, one more…_

With my new found kill, my abilities found themselves a new strength. Now, I was able to see any living being in my vicinity. As I turned all over, I was able to see sharpened and strong yellow visuals of what was everyone in my village. I was capable of even counting every single one as they were that clear and distinguishable for me. Not only that, but I felt energized. I felt as if I was on top of the world. I felt lighter. I felt strong.

All over my ears, I heard breathing and hearts beating, all of them were resonating as if they were melodies to my mind. This was getting easier by the second.

As if I was a drone, I made my way to my basement. Out of the three, the one in the basement was going to be the easiest as that basement was essentially soundproof. I can easily wager that no matter how loud I could be, no one would be able to hear anything, and that was great for me.

Once again I sneaked by the stationaries outside and made my way to the basement. I watched the last figure closely as they were crouched, stagnant in position. Once I was in my basement, it wasn't hard to navigate. Down here, the lights were barely on, but for my eyes, it was as if the sun was already in here. I could see every little detail and corner without any problem. At this point, I simply sneaked behind my opponent. This one was fairly simple of an affair.

Once I was right behind them, I grabbed them and pulled them towards me and in one instantaneous motion, I shoved my dagger right into their neck. They had no chance to do absolutely anything as their life was over as quickly as one could blink. Finally, my first objective was complete.

_Now… who's next?_


	5. Unforeseen Commotion: Part 2

I looked around me, taking note of all of the beings that seemed to be present in the town. The two stationaries were still posted outside of my home, not having had moved significantly from where I had last seen them. Towards the village entrance, I took note of up to seven figures, most of which were grouped up and moving around together. Unfortunately, I was incapable of figuring out what they were doing, meaning that going against them wasn't going to be simple at all. If I had to guess it seemed that some of them were simply standing guard, were patrolling, or were conversing. Regardless, the fact that they were all together was going to prove troublesome. Not only that but since I have already eliminated some of them, it would only be a matter of time before they were alerted of what I am doing.

Without hesitation, I rummaged through my basement into a particular spot which was covered by countless items and chests. Upon clearing it out, a tiny but very clean chest was revealed. I opened it and found the very thing I was hoping they wouldn't have found, an instant healing potion. Thanks to my countless adventures, I managed to find one of these. I knew that finding one was probably a miracle, so because of that, I stored it away in the case of an extreme emergency, hoping that it could save me in a severe time of need.

Even though I was glad to have gotten my hands on my prized possession, I found myself having a bit of a dilemma. Should I use it immediately or should I save it for a more extreme injury? At the moment, I was only pained by my left arm. If I played my cards right, I could still put up a significant fight, meaning that I could save this for a more dangerous encounter. However, I wouldn't go so far as to say that I am so skilled that I can pull off surviving this whole encounter without using it. The moment I am placed in a head-on confrontation I will easily lose since it is my dominant arm that is hurt. I can't behave as if I'll always have a chance to use it later.

Of course, I didn't have the luxury to truly ponder my next set of actions, so instead, I stashed the incredible potion into my hoodie. I then proceeded to search my basement for a particular set of armor. Usually, a heavy tier of iron armor would be my go-to set for combat, but since I am injured and because I am attempting to maintain stealth, I have it within my best interest to instead use light iron armor. Again, thanks to my countless adventures, I've gained experience in making varying levels and types of armor from various materials, all so that I could maintain diversity and achieve efficient protection for my tasks.

Within a couple of minutes, I was outfitted in armor with chain limbs and iron plates that covered critical areas. It was light enough so that it wouldn't make too much noise which was a plus. It also was light enough so that I had confidence in my mobility. Hopefully, I had made the right choice. As for my weapons, I opted for five daggers, all hanged and holstered on my waist. I had no intention, just like before, in carrying a heavy two-handed weapon.

At this point, I needed to figure out how to deal with the intruders. The two outside were stationed in the same spot, meaning that taking them out together was going to take an incredible amount of skill from me. Luckily, it seemed that the others at the entrance were still unaware of their lack of comrades' response. However, even though they were far away, a part of me was hesitant to do anything outside. Previously, they had managed to spot and engage me from a considerable distance. This meant that they must have, at the very least, incredible sight. Not only that, but they can also teleport. These two factors made open combat incredibly dangerous for me. If I have to kill them, I need to do it somewhere where it is hard to see or hard to find.

Well, in the end, my chances of survival were never amazing so I shouldn't have to think too much about it. First things first, I needed to take out the two sentries outside my home. This, in itself, should not be too complicated. As long as the others don't catch me mid-action, I should be able to work this whole problem within my favor.

I made my way back upstairs carefully, minding the fact that I now wore armor which could make it easier for me to make noise. The best plan I had against the two sentries were to lead them into my house by distraction. As said before, going outside was not an option, so they should come to me instead. Once I reached my grand living room, I looked around for something that was near that I could use as a distraction. Fortunately, I spotted a plentiful amount of sticks, hilts, and some iron pieces laying about, all of which suited my need.

Not only did I spot such items laying about, but I also spotted the bow and arrows I had made earlier near my doorway.

_Interesting. So they didn't steal the bow and arrows? That's weird. Weren't they looting my house? I don't see a reason as to why they wouldn't notice and take the bow and arrows if they were? Are they after something else then? Or is it that they do not need it? Could that girl have something to with what they want? Or did that girl set me up here?_

The questions weren't going to help my case, so instead, I picked up one of the broken sword hilts and then carefully made an impromptu plan. My idea was to hide in my kitchen and then throw the hilt loudly enough so that the two sentries could respond. Afterward, I would then sneak about and somehow take them out. Simple enough, right? Yeah, it wasn't a great plan, but I couldn't have cared any less to be more complex about everything.

I moved towards my kitchen and then faced my grand living room. In a slightly reckless manner, I threw the hilt towards the opposite end, towards the back end past the stairs. This would grab their attention towards the wide-open hallway that lead to the backdoor and small side rooms, one of which was the storage room where I had initially eliminated my first target. The sound punctured the silence that was hanging in the air, perfectly grabbing the attention of my opponents outside. As expected, they reacted, turned around, and faced my front door.

Their yellow figures were standing seemingly with attention. Their heartbeats were thumping loudly and quickly, showing that they were startled. Their arms moved quickly, meaning that they were holstering their bows and arrows. Afterward, they seemed to have pulled out something from their groin area and had it stretched frontwards. If I had to guess, they had both pulled out a blade.

"The hell was that? Striker 1-2, everything okay in there?!" One of them exclaimed. The silence resumed its place in our environment, growing within their angst. "1-2? You hear me in there?" He asked again. No response was given of course. "Goddammit..." They vented. Within my sight, one of the figures pointed at the other and then towards the ground, following up by pointing their fingers at themselves and towards my house. Their sign was clear. One of them will enter and inspect while the other stands guard outside. This was not within my favor.

Very slowly one of them moved into my home, their sight roaming throughout my grand living room. They were cautious, and not in a manner of fear, but intensity. These people, whoever they were, weren't some trash burglars. They had experience and knew at some level of what they were doing. The silence became unbearable. Even with their heartbeats and breathing filling my ears, the silence was taking its toll on me. Right now, the moment counts strongly compared to what I've done so far.

"Striker 1-2? Report!" They exclaimed. Still, nothing was given. The figure turned around and then pointed behind him at the person standing guard. His fingers waved him inwards. It seemed that this guy didn't want to be in here by himself. The other followed, his head roaming the room as the other. It seemed that my luck had struck me. Now that they were together and inside I didn't have to worry about one of them leaving.

"All they had to do was search here. How could they have fucked this up?" One of them whispered. The other shushed him, trying to gain control of the situation. "Just follow procedure."

It seemed that their procedure was to search carefully for traces. They walked near each other, weapons ready, looking into every corner carefully. As they moved about my living room, I looked at them from the kitchen through the walls. I was trying to figure out an opening for an attack or to find another way to distract them. Right now, I either had to take them out quickly at once or to separate them while keeping them inside.

Little by little, they made their way down the back hallway by my stairs. In a way, this worked in my favor. Seeing the way they work, one of them might go into one of the side rooms while the other stands outside. If that happens, I could time my attack and get rid of the one outside and then somehow work a plan against the other afterward.

When they left the vicinity of my living room, I worked my way around towards the back hallway. With proper timing, I ended up on the wall right before the hallway itself while my opponents were scanning the side rooms further back. They weren't too far away that I could get caught in the open, but depending on what they do, my plan may be foiled. I watched them carefully, ready to move at any given moment. Their heads kept moving side to side, not once turning all the way around to check behind them.

The seconds that I waited felt like hours, causing my nerves to slowly rile up. At this point, my adrenaline was damping down the pain in my left arm. You could call that an advantage, but if I don't get to do anything soon, this whole situation will get complicated.

"The hell?" I watched one of them point towards one of the side rooms. Since I was looking through the walls, I couldn't tell what particular room they were talking about. However, that didn't seem to matter. The one who spoke moved into the room while the other one stood outside just as I had initially predicted. With this, I moved towards the hallway and approached the one standing guard slowly, trying to keep quiet as best that I could've.

"There's blood here." The inspector kneeled in my vision and hunched over. They were inspecting blood. They were in my storage room where I had killed the first target. My time to strike was now decided. I walked up to the standing guard, readying my dagger for the execution.

"Whose? Can you tell?" The guard questioned. After they finished their sentence, I covered his mouth with my right hand and pierced their throat with my dagger all while pulling him away from the doorway, away from the inspector's possible line of sight. I then twisted the dagger inside his neck and pulled it out. The body was then lifeless, laying onto me. Unfortunately, I knew that I had just done was not quiet. The squishing of the guard's flesh along with the of his weapons hitting my floor alerted the inspector. Quickly I dropped the body and prepared for my next attack.

I watched the inspector turn around and ready himself. However, in an instant, they were gone from my view. On cue, I immediately felt my nerves shoot and felt movement behind me. With haste, I turned around and took note of my opponent that was lunging at me. By a sheer fraction of distance, I managed to dash to the left and dodge their attack. Since it all happened too quickly, my balance was thrown off and left me vulnerable momentarily. My opponent did not wait a moment longer and turned himself toward me, changing his attack from a lung to a downward stab with his left arm.

As best as I could've, I ducked and moved towards him and then towards his left, narrowly missing his stab. Before he could react to my sudden movement, I then pierced the left side of his stomach with my dagger, prompting a strong groan from my opponent. Without wasting a single second, I pulled it out and then cleanly stabbed right into the side of his throat. As a result, when I pulled out my dagger, his blood landed on me and all over my hallway wall and my floor. The body fell and laid on the floor without movement, a sign that I had won.

I swiped my dagger on my pants, cleaning off the blood from both sides. I had made progress. My house was now clear of hostiles, meaning that I had time to take a true breather. My next course of action was only more difficult. I had to somehow figure out a way to clear seven total opponents, all of which are grouped. They were all still near the village entrance, although it is only a matter of time before they become suspicious of what has happened over here. I could wait it out here and use my own home as a lure, but I doubt it will be as simple as everything I've done up until now. Taking out two people proved dangerous as it is, so unless the rest split up badly, there is no way I can win anything.

I looked around and tried to think.

_What is my next plan? These damn people can teleport and have some skills in combat. At this rate, I'll be dead by exhaustion. Who are these people anyway?_

I turned towards the dead body in front of me and crouched. I looked over his details, noticing that he was wearing pure black clothing all over. His entire body and face were covered up in an incredibly dark fabric. The color was so dark it felt as if I was looking into an abyss. Apart from his clothing, I checked him for items. Unfortunately, I was not able to find anything other than a knife, his bow, and his arrows on him. I looked thoroughly, hoping that I could find a clue as to what the hell they were doing here or who they were but found nothing.

Since I had nothing else to check him for, I then ripped open his mask, only to find out something very peculiar of him. His skin was completely white as if he was a damned ghost. It was uncommonly white, far more white for a dead body. Not only that, but his eyes were purple, deep, and dark around his pupils. He did not look like anything I had ever seen before. He, however, had humanoid features. He had the facial and body structure of a human. He was too weird to be called a human, but not so weird as to call him a monster. What the hell was he then?

I stared into his dead eyes and only felt entranced by them. It's as if there was a space beyond them. As if they were a gate to a different dimension. The longer I looked into them, the darker they seemed to become. If I didn't know any better, it was if he was staring right into my soul, or as if his eyes were reflecting my soul. I could sense something from them, some form of eerieness that was emanating off of them. It was truly... discomforting.

By force, I pulled my gaze away from his body and covered his face back up again. Whatever it is that I had felt, I did not want to feel again. Whoever I was dealing with wasn't regular. They could captivate a person by sight, could teleport, had great eyesight, were humanoid and were somewhat trained in combat. I was truly dealing with something threatening.

Not only did I not know what they were, but I also didn't know why they were here. What could they have possibly wanted here? It must have something to do with that girl. They showed up when she disappeared, so either she led them here or they tracked her here. Is she some sort of target? Or a leader? What am I going to do as a result? If she betrayed me, then what? They outnumber me. If she didn't, then that means I have a prisoner or refugee to worry about. What the hell should I be doing here?

Well, it's not as if this situation wasn't dire from the beginning. For me to expect some form of victory was nothing but a futile hope.

" _Well, it seems that a Striker team was outdone_." A deep voice spoke behind me, shattering my thoughts. I turned around in response and noticed that the deep-voiced man wasn't the only one in my vicinity. There were a total of three targets standing in front of me, all of which seemed of bigger stature than the people who I've recently dealt with. They seemed to be at least two meters tall and were built lean like damn boulders. If that was an indication of anything, it was that I was done for.

I readied my dagger for an attack, but I knew better than to do anything. My tiny little blade will not compete with the monstrosities in front of me, especially when they're all together. Instead, I stared at the three beings in front of me, paying close attention to any movements, all while they were staring at me. The one who spoke seemed to be eyeing me up and down. I could feel his cold gaze emanating from behind his mask as if he was freezing me in place. The other two, in contrast to the one that was analyzing me, were calm. They were standing there in a relaxed fashion, not even a bit of their stature ready for combat. Whatever they were going to do with me, it seems that I wasn't worth being serious for.

The seconds that passed felt like eternities in of themselves as these things were staring at me. I couldn't sense any particular hostility from them which only confused me further. I felt like a bird being looked at by a passive predator. They didn't seem to care in particular to fight me, but I knew a wrong move would be the end of me. What should I do? Should I say anything? It's not like anything I could ask or say anything that could help me. Whatever this whole situation is about, I have very little knowledge about it.

At this point, I was more inclined to believe that my fate was already sealed. I did the best I could with how little I have.

My morale for a fight had dropped, causing me to sigh outwardly. I knew that I was not fit to fight now that I was compromised, so with intent, I dispelled my concentration, removing the red tint from my vision and the yellow highlights from the beings around me along with the sound of their heartbeats from my ears. I then followed up by placing my dagger in one of my holsters. My actions, as a result, seemed to confuse the invaders in front of me, prompting a curious hum from all three.

"Well, now that's a shame. I was expecting a little more from someone who managed to wipe out a whole squadron by himself. Then again, you'd be a fool to try anything huh?" The one in the middle of the three beings spoke, his gaze not lifting off of me. I could feel the condescendence emanating from his voice alone.

"Oh, I take it that I did something remarkable today then?" I responded. Seeing how little I care anymore, I chose sarcasm as my form of retaliation.

"Hah. Well, in a way, yes you have. Not many can do what you've managed to do. It seems you're not just a normal person huh?" Normal? Me? Maybe not. Then again, there are a lot of things in this world I would have trouble describing as normal.

"You think so? I don't see what I've done as amazing. To me, what I've done is nothing more than natural." Where is this conversation even going at this point? Am I going to die soon or what?

"How humble."

"Anyways, let's get straight to the point. What the hell are you all going to do with me? And why are you all here? Does it have to do with that girl?" I didn't want to waste time anymore.

"Oh, it has everything to do with that girl. Don't worry. I'm sure you'll get answers to your questions soon enough. I promise we'll satisfy this curiosity of yours." With a snap of his fingers, his voice began to ring in my ears as if his words were bouncing all over them. Within seconds, my vision began to darken and my sense of balance was replaced with extreme nausea. I felt sick and cold as if I was stuck in a blizzard without warmth. I couldn't even tell if I was standing anymore. All I felt was emptiness and a cold shiver all over my body. My sense of hearing was replaced with tinnitus, driving my mind insane by the second. Whatever was happening was piercing my sanity, as if my soul was being shredded.

For what it may have been worth, I tried sticking to reality. I tried to keep myself aware of my surroundings, but it was hopeless. All I saw was darkness, all I heard was silence, and all I felt was a cold, sickening emptiness. It was as if I was removed from the real world and was placed into a void. I had no idea what was going on.

" ** _You struggle for no reason. Just give in already._** " His voice echoed within me.

After a couple of seconds, I blacked out completely along my resistance dying in vain.

* * *

I don't how long I was out, but I assume that I wasn't out for long. I could feel my back laying on some grass, and as I opened my eyes, the bright light of the torches around pierced my vision. I was outside of my house, by the entrance to my village. I was dragged and dropped out here, and by the looks of my watch, only a couple of minutes had passed. It was 9:30 PM, meaning that the sky was already dark and the moon was beginning to rise. My left arm was still hurting, meaning that no significant recovery was made too.

After my vision got used to the shining lights from the torches all over the place, I looked around to see several figures standing around me. All of them were cloaked in black clothing, their faces hidden by dark masks. The figures were of varying statures, and they were all armed with either a sword, a bow, or both.

Even though they all had weapons, none of them had their weapons trained on me or ready for combat. Instead, they were all just standing around, facing in my general direction.

I lifted myself off the ground slowly as I looked carefully at my observers. I wanted to make sure that whatever I was doing wouldn't prompt an opposing reaction from anyone. Carefully I stood up and then looked around, trying to gauge what may be happening next. No one seemed keen on me yet, so I was glad that at the very least that I wasn't going to get thrashed on yet. I noticed that all of my daggers were removed, along with all of my armor. My healing potion, however, was still on me which confused me internally. It seemed that they must've had a plan for me for them to have kept me in one working piece.

I stood in the open at the center of all of the invaders, and for a minute or so, only silence was taking place. I had no idea what was going to become of me, so I chose to stay silent and passive. I had confidence that at least someone was going to give me context as to what the hell was going on.

"Oh. Is this him?" I feminine voice asked behind me. _What is it with these people appearing behind me all the time?_

I turned around to face her and took note that it was not the white-haired girl I had gotten acquainted with, relieving me of the idea that I was betrayed for now. Instead, it was a black-haired girl that was surprisingly tall, matching my height and capable of looking at me at my eye level. In comparison to the rest around me, she was not wearing any kind of cloak or mask, but instead, was wearing a jet-black outfit that was akin to a bodysuit. Her figure was slender and lightly curvaceous, not as much as the white-haired girl, but enough that she gave off an erotic charm of her own. Apart from her clothing, another defining feature was her deep amethyst colored eyes on her fair and, dare I say, attractive face. Like her companions, her skin was almost ghostly white, but there was no anomaly of any other kind on her. Her hair was almost as black as her clothing, only that it was shinier. She had long hair and had bangs which were side-swept to her right with a portion of her hair covering her right eye. Her eyes were filled with a stern aura, probably because her pupil was more akin to a cat's than a human's.

During my analysis of her looks, she had made her way close to me to the point where she was standing within arms reach of me. She was looking over me, analyzing me as I had analyzed her. Her gaze was serious and unwavering, her pupils only moving to look all over me. She had her arms crossed and after a couple of seconds, she looked right back into my eyes. Thankfully, her gaze did not bring discomfort to me unlike her allies, but still brought a cold pierce of their own. Whoever this woman was, it was clear that she was important.

"It seems you have found someone formidable then?" Perhaps because I was fixated on her, I did not notice that the man of large stature was behind her, the one who had spoken and neutralized me earlier. His stance seemed far more formal than the rest, kind of like how a servant would stand by a master. His body language was far more silent and reserved.

"I would say so. He took out the Striker 1 squadron by himself." He responded to her question, an answer which prompted a smile on her face. As attractive as that smile was, it was not one that made me happy. I could sense a deep intent behind it.

"Wonderful. Striker 1 may not have been the best, but even then only a few could hope to take them down, especially without a fight." Her voice became raspier, and as she spoke, she approached me even closer. She put herself within kissing distance and as so, I steeled myself against her. I put on the most neutral expression I could make. She was intent on doing something to me.

I stared right at her, and because of that, I noticed that her eyes were _shining_. They seemed to be illuminated as if they were trying to do something, only that it wasn't. Perhaps it was some sort of body language? Either way, I kept my composure and maintained a serious and neutral demeanor. Perhaps she may have sensed this decision of mine since she chose to get even closer. We were staring each other down as she was in my immediate distance. To say that I no longer have any personal space is an understatement. I was able to feel her warmth after all.

"Can I help you in some manner?" I asked. For some reason, my simple question had perplexed her. Almost instantly she retracted from me and her shining eyes dimmed back down to a regular state. Did I make a mistake?

"How interesting. It seems that he is not affected at all?" Now it was my turn to be perplexed.

"Affected? What is going on here?" I voiced my question.

"My eyes. Do you feel nothing from looking at them?" She asked as her eyes lit up again. At this point, it was obvious that her eyes were shining with intent.

"No." I voiced simply.

"How about my voice? Does hearing it do anything to you?"

"No."

"How about my appearance in general?" She asked. Now this question, I wasn't sure if I knew how to answer.

"Nothing." Perhaps the word nothing was incorrect since I did think of her as attractive, but I'm sure that was not the type of answer she was looking for.

"How fascinating." She clapped her hands together, and at the same time, she flashed me a wicked little smile. I had no idea what this meant for me.

"I see."

"Well, enough about that for now. Listen, you've proven yourself to be somewhat useful for me. Because of that, I have one single proposal that you have to respond to. You can reject it or accept my proposal, but first, I'll have to make it clear that depending on what you decide, there will be conditions." She began speaking authoritatively, meaning that what I'm about to hear is the serious part of all of this. "See, you have wrapped yourself into a little problem for us. That girl you saved is someone we have been searching for a good while now. She's someone that we need alive and in one piece. For that, I will thank you for rescuing her. However, in our pursuit for her, you have eliminated a whole squadron of mine, and that, I cannot let slide. Now, usually, for interfering, I would have you executed simply because you'd be a waste of time for me, but considering your achievement, I instead have another idea." She continued. "You've shown yourself to have good capability in combat, and, as per account to our valued target, have shown exceptional ability in survival. Due to these qualities, I have a proposal for you." I nodded to display my understanding. "You protect this girl for us. That is my proposal." What?

"You want me to protect her? Didn't you call her a target?" I asked. I swear, every second that goes by, this situation just gets more and more confusing.

"Indeed. When I say target, I don't mean in terms of elimination. She's a target for protection. As important as she is, unfortunately, she does not understand her position. She has continuously exploited our weaknesses and attempted to escape numerous times. At this point, she is nothing short of a headache for me. I have to constantly send men after her every single time I let my eyes off of her and frankly, I longer have the patience for such a child's play. What worse? The fact that I am not allowed to forget about her, otherwise, my superiors will be quite unhappy. In my eyes, she is not worth the damn time, but I have to put up with it anyways. Because of all this, I have this proposition for you. You take care of her for us, no matter what, and we'll guarantee your whole safety, along with peace for your village. If you refuse, however, we'll have to destroy everything here along with you to erase the evidence." She sighed after giving her explanation, prompting me to start talking instead.

"Destroy everything along with me? You have no use giving me a choice if you'll just kill me." I said. In hindsight, I couldn't care any less about living at this point since this is all just an ultimatum. If she kills me, it won't change anything.

"Kill you? Oh, you're misunderstanding. When I say destroy you, I don't mean that I'll kill you. Instead, I will put you in a state of torture that will render you incapable of anything. After all, death is quite forgiving for those who do not care to live, don't you think? For a man who thinks like you, eternal pain and misery is the best solution." She said with a cold voice. I could tell she wasn't going to let me be regardless of what my choice is.

"Okay, so if you won't let me be if I deny, what am I responsible for if I accept?"

"You are to keep her safe from anything that could harm her. If she is injured, kidnapped, or killed, you will face severe consequences for each offense you make. You are also to never interfere with us when we need her. We'll check on her regularly to make sure you're doing your job, so if you are to abandon your job, we will hunt you down and give you a fate far worse than you could ever imagine. You will be responsible for any issue she may have and you are to report on anything questionable she does. Failure of contact will also result in punishment. Any questions?" God damn. Am I going to be a babysitter or what?

"Hold on. If I'm liable for all of that, surely it isn't fair that I am the only one who will be in charge of her?" I asked. She must be crazy if I have to worry about all of that all the time. If she is that important, they're better off killing me.

"Don't worry. We wouldn't be so reckless as to hand her over to one single person just like that. For compensation, we will try our best to help you with your responsibility. If requested, I can have weapons, supplies, and food sent to you through my group. Also, if needed, I can lend you some people from my group, although, I will be honest in that you should refrain from relying too much on that offering as my group is almost always busy."

"Is that all for the conditions? Is there anything else I should know?"

"Oh, can I take this question as an implication of acceptance?"

"No. I just want to make sure you're telling me all I should know first."

"Nothing else I can think of. Do you have any additional questions?"

"Do I have to do anything specific for me to take care of her? Are there any particular standards that I should be following?"

"You can do absolutely _anything_ you want with her as long as it doesn't interfere with her ability to cooperate with us. If she can move and talk, you pass. Simple as that." It isn't simple. Nothing about this is simple.

"Okay. If there is nothing else to this, then..." I trailed off with some hesitation. "Then I accept." I felt as if my soul dropped when I said that.

"Oh, that hesitation is no good for me. I'll need a more confident answer from you. Perhaps **this** will motivate you?" She snapped her finger and in an instant, my vision was enveloped in darkness, and my body felt like it was being seared open with flames. The pain was putrid. I felt as if my skin was being burned and as if I was being cut open with hot knives. Not only that, but a sickening sense of nausea enveloped me, causing me to throw up on the spot. I had no clue if I had already made a mess of myself, but the pain forbade me from thinking about it.

" _ **Fuuuuuck...**_ **"** I groaned to myself, trying to keep myself together. It was horrible, completely sadistic. I was coughing from the amount of pain I was in, and quickly after I was beginning to choke on my vomit. I wanted it to end. It was only a couple of seconds, but I already wanted it to end. My fingers were essentially tearing into my clothes because of how desperate I was from the misery. " _ **Stop... Please... Stop... This...**_ " I was beginning to beg, but my words were barely comprehensible. Within seconds I was throwing up again, my throat burning from my stomach acid having had been exposed to my throat and mouth. As expected, I then began choking even more. I felt as if my lungs were plunged in fire themselves.

I tried moving but the burning sensation seared me into the floor instantly. I couldn't even move a muscle from the pain. My mouth was burning so much that I couldn't even speak anymore. My hands at some point had torn through my shirt and I was scratching my stomach because of my dementia. _**Please... Stop... I.. Understand...**_ My thoughts were the only thing safe at the moment. It was the only part of me that I hope was still comprehensible. I doubt she could hear my thoughts, but goddammit I hoped that she could.

Suddenly, I heard a snap and in an instant, I was feeling normal again. The burning feeling within my body and nausea simply disappeared. However, my burning throat, mouth, and stomach skin did not, and as I looked over myself, I noticed that within the seconds of torture I was in, I was a complete mess. I was also still coughing, although breathing was a lot easier. My vision had also returned completely back to normal, and as so, I was introduced to the sight of the black-haired girl's legs since she was standing in front of me, along with the giant puddle of vomit on me.

"Consider that as a tiny sample of what would be a Level 1 punishment for you. I take it that it has served as good motivation for you to accept and maintain your newfound responsibility?" Her voice was cold and sadistic. I could tell she enjoyed seeing the mess of what she had done to me.

"Y-yes... I... Under... stand..." Was all I could say as I tried to get myself together.

"Great! I expect your wholesome cooperation from this point forward!" She clapped her hands together again as she spoke in a happy voice. She then approached me and laid one of her hands on my head. "This will serve as proof of our new relationship. " As soon as she finished talking, I felt a searing hot pain on my left arm. When I checked it, I noticed a long and complex snake-like brand appearing on my skin. It was a mark. Probably a damned curse of some sort.

"Glad to be working with you." I voiced with sarcasm. It was probably not a good idea, but I was good as dead already so I didn't care.

"Aww, don't be such a downer. As there are punishments for you, there are also rewards." She gave me a wink as I looked up at her.

"Rewards? You didn't say anything about rewards."

"You didn't ask." I chuckled as I realized that she was right. She got me. "Well, I'm sure you have a very good understanding of your new job now. It's about time I return to my regular affairs." She snapped her finger for the last time, and in seconds, the huge man behind her disappeared and reappeared with the white-haired girl who was shackled by her hands, feet, and neck. Her hair was a mess and she was dirty with dirt. I looked at her eyes and they seemed even more empty than before. Her clothes were even more ripped with her shorts completely teared up and her shirt even more revealing than before. If any more of her clothes were ripped, she'd be exposed to me.

The large man then opened and released her shackles, causing her to fall to the ground on her knees. Lastly, within seconds, everyone in my vicinity was gone except for the white-haired girl herself, who was staring at me. Even though her gaze looked empty, I could sense sadness, and perhaps even some regret. We stared at each other, taking in the fact that we were both a mess. I didn't know what to say to her, so I instead chose to stay silent.

"Not... you... too..." Was the only sentence she said to me.


	6. Responsibility's Entry

For the rest of the night, I simply went home and got myself cleaned up. I was completely tired of all of the events that had unfolded throughout the day so putting myself to sleep was my biggest priority. Thanks to the white-haired girl, my left arm was healed up, her healing being the only interaction between us for the night. Since my arm had been taken care of, I stashed my only healing potion away back in my storage, hoping that I would not have to rely on it any time soon.

Even though I was physically tired, my mind was not. I couldn't sleep well regardless of how much my body ached for it. My mind was running thoughts after thoughts due to my newfound responsibility. There was so much that was keeping me worried and occupied mentally. What was I part of now? What will I have to put up with? How should I handle my new job? What were the standards? Would I ever have an escape? Will she bring me more trouble? Will my solitude and peace return? Will I get exploited more by the infiltrators? How long would this all last? Is there any hope for an escape? Am I trapped in a perpetual cycle of slavery and demand? Who are the invaders? Who is this damned white-haired girl and why is she so damned important? Who are the infiltrators' superiors? What do they do? What would they want?

The questions were endless, but there was one question that truly riled me. **Where did these people all come from?** To me, this one question was the one I wanted an answer to. For years, I thought I lived in this world alone. There was not anyone else I had ever run into. Day after day, it was always just me. All I ever dealt with was myself. Now, all of a sudden, people, or beings, showed up. It didn't make any sense. I know the land around my village somewhat like the back of my hand. I know that there are no settlements apart from mine anywhere here. Not only are there no other settlements, but I never came across anyone in the wild either. For as long as I can remember, I didn't even believe in the idea of others exploring and finding themselves where I was, simply because it had never happened. Too much time had passed for it to not happen at least once.

No one showed up, no one was already here. It was always just me, the wildlife around, and the monsters that plagued the dark in this world. Sure, I built a village, but I only did it as a means of keeping myself occupied. Or at least, that was my last remaining reason. I no longer expected to house anyone, to have to offer a home to a wandering traveler who happened to stop by. To me, it was almost a myth for it to happen. Now, here I was, with a woman who I barely know, trusted with her existence by beings that are superior to me in power. It was all too sudden.

Sure, maybe they are travelers of some sort. Maybe they came from a land far, far away. But still, it doesn't warrant a reason good enough for me to believe. It just seems off for me to run into someone like them so suddenly. Perhaps it feels off because there was no surprise from my visitors. Not once was it brought up that my village was a weird existence. No one questioned as to why it was here. It's as if my village was nothing out of the ordinary. As if it is a common sight to them. If they were explorers of some sort, then it would make sense for them to not believe my village was out of place. However, for me, they were.

I may not have traveled incredulously far from home, but the distance is still great. There were times where I was away from home for weeks on end. I traveled far enough that upon my return, my village seemed out of place to _me_. After all, when there is nothing but the natural land, it is only natural that a wall-sealed village would seem out of place.

Was _I_ the weird one? Was I _that_ unfamiliar with the company? Was I so isolated that the mere existence of someone else is enough to make me bewildered? Or do I have some credibility in being so bewildered? Was I right to believe that others like them existing is out of place? That it is puzzling for me to become acquainted so suddenly will all of them at once?

Questions and thoughts hounded my mind for the night. I don't know what time I had finally managed to fall asleep, and for the life of me, I'm not going to even try to recount what else was in my head simply because it was all too much. All I know is that at some point, I knocked out from exhaustion and that I had no dreams.

* * *

It was pointless. Completely pointless. Long before she had even reached my room, I had already woken from me sensing her presence. I can tell that she was trying her best, and I'm sure that for a regular person, it would have been enough and considerate of her, but not for someone like me. Still, I kept myself in place with my eyes closed, only because sleep inertia had a hold on me. Her quiet and very light footsteps were nearing my room, and not before long, she had opened my door and walked inside. I was able to sense it all, all of her journey from outside my house to my room.

When she reached my bed, she stayed still. Even with my sleep inertia, I was able to sense her entire body near me. She was standing, looking over me. Then, she began reaching her arm out, only to retract it multiple times and repeat that little process over my body. She seemed hesitant which was a little bothersome for me. If she wanted to wake me, she should just do so. Her constant movement was just straining me.

The easy solution would have been for me to just get up, but because I had let her enter my room before doing so, I figured it would just startle her. Either that or it would scare her and then make her needlessly cautious in the future.

Thankfully, she didn't hesitate for long and planted her gentle palm on my torso and began to shake me very delicately. I let this go on for a good ten seconds, that way it would look natural for me to wake up. When the ten seconds were up, I groaned lightly and then faced her as I rubbed my eyes. As I lifted myself upwards to face her, I felt a stream of sunlight hit me on my back, heating me. It was clear to me that it was probably the middle of the morning or afternoon, meaning I had overslept, a natural consequence due to the pitiful sleep last night.

After a couple of seconds of me getting my bearings together, I looked at the white-haired girl who was standing in front of me, looking at me intently. Right off the bat, I noticed that she was no longer wearing the torn clothing from last night, and instead, was wearing a comfy-looking t-shirt and jeans. She was completely clean and she had her hair tied up in a ponytail, a look that was welcome when compared to the night before.

"What do you need?" I asked with a rough voice.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you from your rest but I need assistance from you." Her voice was soft as if she was deliberately trying to not strain me with a loud voice.

"What for?"

"I wanted to ask if I could use some of your supplies to make food and some weapons for myself? I also wanted to ask if I could explore this village of yours? Just so that I could familiarize myself with it?" Her voice, even though it sounded a question, had sounded empty as it was before. Her speech was also still formal, far too formal for my taste.

"I could've sworn I had already told you that you live here and that you can do whatever you'd like. You don't need to ask me permission like this. It is needless."

"I understand. I just didn't want to do anything on my own without advising you." Her gaze left me, a look that would have looked sad if her face showed more emotion, although I'm sure the emotion itself was present within her.

"You're not a child. I'm sure I have no reason to not trust you. Trivial matters like these are a waste of time to ask me of." I began to stretch as I said this. I was going to have to get up after the conversation was over so I might as well have it gotten out the way.

"I see. I'm sorry." She bowed her head down to me, a gesture that seemed to inspire angst in me. She was being way too formal to me.

"Is there anything else you need to ask me?"

"No. Well, not anymore. With regards to what you just told me, the rest of my questions would have been bothersome for you."

"Your questions were not bothersome, I just want you to know that you don't have to inhibit yourself so strictly. There is no need for it."

"I see."

As I finished my stretching, I moved on to fixing my bed. Throughout the entire time, she had not moved away to go off to do whatever she may have needed. Because of that, when I finished, I faced her, noticing that she was looking at me. "Do you need anything else?"

"No, not now."

"Then why are you still here?"

"I..." She was holding herself back. She was afraid. It didn't take much to tell. She knew who she was to me. She knew what I was to her. She knew the situation was part of my knowledge. She was apprehensive. Why exactly? I wasn't so sure, but it was troubling for both of us. "I wasn't sure if it is okay for me to do just anything." She resumed. "I don't know what of me you'd tolerate. I don't want to trouble-"

"Listen." I cut her off. The sudden interference startled her, but I continued regardless. "I get it. You're afraid. I can tell. You don't know what to do because you don't want to be any more troublesome than you think you already are. I understand. You're holding yourself back because you don't want to put me in any more trouble. Perhaps you feel guilty because of what I got wrapped into. Perhaps you're afraid of what I might do to you now that I am responsible for you. Perhaps you are lost because of what our relationship means and what it will dictate of the both of us. Whatever it is, I need you to know that you don't have to do any of this. You don't have to act formally. You don't have to be careful to anger me. You don't have to treat yourself as if you're accident-prone and will break everything you look at."

"I see. I'm sorry-"

"And stop saying that you're sorry. You've only said it a couple of times and it has already bored through me. There's no need for any apologies here." I stared right into her eyes even though her gaze was not meeting me. She felt guilty too. I can tell that for sure. She won't let go of it just because I say it's alright, and because of that, it will be annoying to sort her out. I don't know what exactly her guilt is about, but whatever it is, she's had it for a damned while.

"Can I ask something?" Her voice was still soft, although now it was less monotone.

"What?"

"Why are you allowing me so much freedom? Aren't you afraid that I'd do something stupid or rebellious? I know that you were told that I have the habit of running away and being a problem. So why?" Her question prompted me to sigh, a gesture that made her tense.

"What is the problem with me giving you so much freedom? Why do you hesitate to accept it?"

"It's just..." Silence followed momentarily as she tried to pick her words. Her face for once was showing some form of frustration, meaning she was struggling to word her feelings to me. "Why? I brought you into something that ruined your peace. And now because of me, you have to worry about someone else entirely. You faced her wrath, didn't you? Surely you know what it will mean for you if I do something stupid. Don't you want more control of me to avoid that fate? Shouldn't you be far more strict because of that?" I know what these questions are. They are connected to the past. She was expecting something entirely different from me and was thrown off because reality wasn't so. I don't know what her worries were exactly, but whatever they were, they were needless for me.

Again I sighed, although with more frustration than exhaustion. I didn't know what to tell her so that this is something she doesn't have to concern herself with. Words alone will not calm her, and if they can, I have to pick damned good ones.

"What were you expecting of me exactly? For me to nail you to a wall and keep you somewhere where I can always see you? Were you expecting me to be angry with you because of what follows you? Were you expecting that I'd feel a need for you to atone because of what we are a part of now? Sure, I can admit that because I ran into you, I am now part of a problem that I could only pray to no longer have. Sure, I can be angry knowing that all it took for everything to fall apart was to acknowledge you and help you. But guess what? It is needless, all needless and a waste of energy. I'm not sure if you're aware, but I know, I can tell that you are part of something against your will, that you don't mean to have it here. I can tell that you have been treated harshly and cruelly in the past, perhaps by your previous _supervisors_. I can tell that you want to make sure that you do nothing that would get you hurt from me, perhaps because you fear I will do as your memories have shown you, or perhaps because you don't want to be more of a burden."

"However, that is all irrelevant to me. We are both in the same situation against our will, and because of that, I have no point in controlling you any more than this situation already is. I have no reason to hate you as this is not your fault. After all, _I'm_ the one who went out of their way to save you when you were trapped and cornered in a cave. I'm telling you this not because I want to be nice, but because it is objectively pointless for me to enact the things you think I might, or for you to feel as bad as you do. I don't know what has happened to you in the past. I don't know what has happened to you that made you want to flee or rebel against the people who are hounding you. I don't know what your existence means and how it is relevant to your captors, neither do I know anything about your personal life and how you've hurt anyone you may have cared for. I just need you to know that when it comes to me and you, I don't need you to be like this. I will not control you because I trust that you are a person with enough rationale to not do anything stupid. I will not be angry because you are part of a problem that controls you. I will not have you feel guilt that is pointless to have because it is exhausting." I stepped closer to her so that she would look at me in the eye. I wanted to make sure that she was truly listening to me.

"I am responsible for you, that is true. What you do can easily decide my fate, for better or for worse. As apparent as that is, I need you to understand..." I stepped even closer, her eyes not leaving mine for not even a millisecond. "... that we are in this unfair and cruel circumstance together. I will rely on you for my safety, and as so, I want you to rely on me for yours. I need you to trust me. If you don't, you might as well report me to your captors for deserting and get me over with because a lack of trust will lead me the same way. I don't need you to cling to me or to treat me as a god, neither do I need you to view me as if I'm some sort of lover or a long time friend. I just need you to trust me even in the smallest way. To give me your trust in that I will keep you safe as one decent human being would care for another decent human being. Understood?"

My long auditory paragraph had exhausted me, but I hoped that it got my message through to her. I backed away from her, returning her personal space. I then turned around and began to make my way to the door so that I could get started with my day. Before I walked through my doorway, however, I was stopped by a simple but relieving sentence. "I understand." I heard from the girl behind me before I went off to take a shower to sort my thoughts out.

* * *

After my shower, the girl had let me know, just to simply have me aware, that she would be outside of the village hunting and practicing her skill with the bow. As I had planned before the invasion, I gave her the new bow, quiver, and arrows I had made for her, a gesture that she thanked me for. Afterward, I learned briefly that she wanted to perfect some particular skill with her archery and that archery was her top skill in general when it came to combat, a piece of information that I made sure to remember for the future. Before she left, just so that she knew, I told her that if she happened to need me, that she should look for me in the village as I was not planning to adventure today, mostly because I had woken up too late.

It had been around thirty minutes ever since, and in that time I had chosen to collect any good arrows that were lodged anywhere from the lake to my village. I figured since they were still there that I should clean all of them up, save any for the girl, and to use any broken ones for materials if possible. This endeavor was taking quite a while, mostly because I had underestimated the number of arrows that were spread all over. Luckily, these arrows were all I had to clean up. The bodies of the Striker squadron were already cleaned up along with any of their remains by the invaders so that they could be ritualized, or at least, that is what the white-haired girl had told me. Regardless, it was swelling news for me. I didn't want to deal with dead bodies myself.

Since this cleaning was taking a while, I was left with my thoughts, thoughts that were, unfortunately, discouraging for me.

I was worried. Why? Because of what I had said to the white-haired girl in my room. Amid frustration, I told her that I needed her to trust me in that I would keep her safe. However, upon reflecting, I realized that I may have made a dire mistake. While it was true that I could protect her, I failed to realize that while I can protect her from, let's say, monsters or attackers, there was one particular group I could not protect her from, or at least, not confidently. That group was none other than her captors themselves. It riddled me with disappointment knowing I had let a particular detail be forgotten by me at that moment.

"... _ **You are also to never interfere with us when we need her**_..." I remembered that particular condition back when I had agreed to this hell of a job. This was a little troubling detail. I did not know what type of needs these captors would require from her, neither did I have a clue as to what I would not be allowed to interfere with. If they were to do anything violent against her or something she cares about, I have no power to protect her, and that fact sprouted shame to me. I had made what was essentially a call for promise on grounds that were so fragile.

I did not have the means to take full responsibility for my request and it was problematic. If I fail at retaining her trust or faith, this will complicate my fate severely. Worst of it all, I saw no solution, only backfire. While I do trust her, I only trust her on a general level, a level that can become nonexistent quite quickly from both sides if anything were to try to rupture it. I don't know what this girl is capable of or what she has tried in the past. If I break her trust, I do not know in what exact way she may doom me. I do not know if she would stick to me and I will have only paranoia against her for failing to make a bridge between us.

I could only hope that the captors would not do anything cruel to her, but I know that such a prayer is hope wasted. I know that whatever they might do will probably be brutal seeing how she looked back when they handed her to me with ripped clothes and a dirtied body. I could only hope that she didn't suffer any injuries and not that she had healed any she may have gotten.

"Ugh..." A sigh left me as I picked up the last visible arrow around my lake. Frankly, I was wishing that my exhaustion was physical but it was all mental. I racked my brain trying to find a way I could make my intent click but I just couldn't see the light from my efforts.

I turned around and took note of how the open plain was now litter-free of arrows. At least there was that little sight to satisfy me. I looked over my watch and noticed it was only 3:34 PM, and as so, the sun was still out and burning me. I was wearing only a black t-shirt and black shorts so I thought that maybe I would be more cooler with them, but with my clothing being black, it seemed that I had only failed once again. My sweat was flowing down my face and I felt moisture all over my body beneath my clothing. The sun felt a little harsher than usual, making me sweatier than usual, a feeling that I did not appreciate.

Having had finished collecting the arrows, I made my way back home so I could sort them out for materials or use.

* * *

Sorting the arrows out was my original goal, but seeing how that was done and over with quickly, I was now making weaponry. For some reason at some point, I took to receiving pleasure from forging weapons and tools. Something about smacking iron with a hammer and shaping it into a creation flowed into my life as a pleasure, and a hobby. At the very moment, I was making an iron broadsword, mostly because I was lacking in weapons, and because I was bored. Seeing how I could not go on an expedition today to get more wood, I had to rely on this again as a pastime.

It was almost 5:00 PM meaning that the day would soon be darkening, and that meant for damn sure that I would not be outside exploring. This also meant that my one and only villager should be returning soon, assuming she hasn't already. Usually, I would've worried more about her location since I am responsible for her, but since she isn't a child, and because I need to be able to trust her, I am not, or at least, not much. I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't worried at all, after all, a scratch on her is demonic torture for me.

Still, there is no use worrying about her obsessively, and thankfully, my forge and furnace are keeping me occupied enough to not trap myself with such thoughts. As a result, however, I was a damn waterfall of sweat due to the heat in the room, and even though I had taken multiple breaks to ensure I didn't accidentally give myself a heat stroke, the heat was still searing into my body well enough that I felt that I would die.

Putting the final touches on my sword, I smacked the scorching metal, working it to the closest form of perfection I could. I wanted to finish up since I had made myself pretty tired having had made about three swords and an iron pickaxe. I also wanted to feel the fresh air outside again instead of the melting heat in the room.

It was around 5:20 PM when I had finished the sword and had stored it after hardening it. It looked usable enough with the blade having had been sharpened and cleaned, making the iron shine and reflect light beautifully. By this point, I had turned everything off and stored what needed to be stored before I went outside. The sun was still out, although it was beginning to set, resulting in a growing shadow towards one side of the village due to the giant walls around.

As I walked outside, my nerves were both somehow calmed and spiked when I sensed someone far down the walkway from my left, meaning someone was coming from the village entrance. I turned and faced in the general direction, and as so, I spotted the luminous white hair that belonged to my only fellow resident. She was walking down the walkway with her bow in hand and what seemed to be empty quivers. It seemed that she had kept herself as busy as I had myself throughout the day. Luckily, right off the bat, I noticed that she had no injuries, relieving me of that worry. On the other hand, though, she was sweaty and exhausted, proof of my previous statement.

Having had confirmed her safety I sat down on my porch, letting the cooler air of nature refresh me from the heat in my home. Within a minute or so, the girl had reached me. Upon inspection I noticed that she had changed, wearing light armor made from chains and iron. Her clothing was no longer the regular t-shirt and jeans but instead a white vest and white denim shorts, a look far more familiar to my mind. As I had previously stated, she was dirty and incredibly sweaty, her vest damp with moisture and her skin glistening from the sweat itself. She looked as if she had taken a bath more than having had sweat.

"Hello. I have returned." Her soft and monotone voice greeted me.

"I noticed. I see you've kept yourself busy."

"Yeah. I was a little motivated today to try and improve. Although, I spent far more time training than I intended. I hope I didn't worry you too much?"

"Not really. As long as you're fine I don't mind what you do in your time."

"That good to hear."

Silence then took its place between us, making the atmosphere quite... awkward in some way. It was natural of course. After all, we barely knew each other and had such a forced relation with each other. As always though, I kept myself quiet. I had nothing else to say or ask, plus, I was busy cooling myself down anyways. While I was comfortable, however, I could tell she wasn't. She seemed restless as she kept fidgeting and looking around. Seeing as how she hadn't left me yet, it meant that she probably had more to say, as always.

"Something you need?" I prompted her.

"Em, yes. Well, they're requests, if you don't mind."

"What is it?"

"Well, first of all... What is your name? I realized a while ago that I didn't even know it and I figured it is probably important for me to ask." Oh right, our names. I forgot those even existed, to be honest. I hadn't needed to introduce myself in so long I forgot their use.

"Victor."

"Victor? I see..."

"Yeah."

"...Em... My name is Adelina, in case you need to remember."

"Noted. Anything else?"

"Yeah. Uh, I also wanted to know if perhaps you could make more arrows for me?" She lifted her empty quivers to show me that she was out. "I noticed that the arrows you made were actually pretty good, better than any I can make actually. Because of that, I was hoping you could make more for me, or at least teach me how to make them better for myself?"

"Sure, but not now. Tomorrow if you're fine with it."

"Yeah, that's alright with me. Thank you."

"Anything else?"

"No, that's all for now I think."

"I see. In that case..." I stood up as I spoke, turning to face my door. "... I'm off to take a bath. I'll be by the lake if anything else comes up." I began walking into my house so that I could prepare myself for the bath.

"Understood. I'll keep that in mind." She said as I heard her beginning to walk away. As so, our conversation was over and we split apart.

* * *

After having had taken a shower to clean me out of the filth, I was now laying in the open bath relaxing in the lukewarm water. Contrary to how I usually would've been, I am not naked, just in case I was to have a visitor. Instead, I am wearing a towel around my midsection to cover myself up for decency.

As part of taking a bath in this lake, the usual procedure for me is to not only lay and relax but to also meditate. Well, I don't know if the word "meditate" is the correct one to use, but essentially, I try to keep my mind clear of any negativity and attempt to unwind any stress mentally and emotionally if possible. Being in a world where anything can go wrong, it is very easy for displeasure and stress to build on on oneself, and as so, I try my best to take care of it through different means. This lake is one of them.

Due to all of the very spontaneous changes that sprouted in my life the past couple of days, I have certainly gained quite a heavy strain on my mind and heart. As a man who only wants and chases peace, I have met quite an opposition. Of course, constantly complaining and deliberating over what has already happened is inefficient, and as a result, I must now, at the very least, come to a full understanding that I must worry healthily about what my next steps should be.

Being inattentive and indifferent has always been my attitude for anything that happens to me. It is a trait that is very easy to adopt and very convenient, even at its worse. After all, if you don't care or don't think, it will not bother you anywhere near as much as if you did. However, this trait of mine is only applicable if the circumstances only apply to me, otherwise, this trait falls moreover being a fault than strength for me. I can easily manage anything if it only revolves around me, but if it applies to someone else, it becomes a different story. As much as I can take responsibility for myself and my circumstances, taking responsibility for someone else is almost a completely foreign concept.

As so, my world right now is in a very delicate state. If I have to take care of someone under mandatory and oppressive demand and observation, how should I behave? What should I allow myself to think? What should be the standards in which I must operate? These questions are questions that I ask myself now because someone else's safety and hope is on the line, not just mine. I can't allow myself to be negligent and careless as usual, otherwise, it will cost the other person involved in a manner I cannot make up for.

Now, if it was only I who was to be involved, what would I have done? Probably give up and accept the death they would've given me. Either that or I would've completely relinquished any hope and accepted the brutal truth in that whatever else that would've happened to me would be painful for the rest of my time. Perhaps I would've fought a pointless battle that would've ended me as a means of escape. Perhaps I would've opposed and retaliated and maybe, just maybe, could've won. Either way, my behavior would've been nothing short of rational, or at the very least, nothing of it would've been in any way tactful. The worst part? This is all assuming I would've even had a choice to make as a mercy from the invaders of my village.

I am sure that my hypothetical reactions are all quite dark and dismissive, a description that I know better than to argue. As so, as an attempt for improvement, I will need to keep in check such behavior and thinking now that I am no longer alone. It will be difficult, I know that for sure. Thinking and introspective direction are all good and all, but frankly, as much as I can think and consider these types of ideas, I am not one that can just follow them. I know myself well enough to know that as much as I tell myself not to, I am very likely to endanger myself and my villager.

Why? Because I am, by my nature, just indifferent. Even now, I am struggling to not just walk away and let everything blind me and take me over. After all, I am only one person in the whole world. I know no one will be affected emotionally or socially. My villager is only a person I've known for a couple of days, so it is simply unreasonable to believe my existence is of any particular importance to her. At most, we have nothing more than a bare sense of closure for one another as two victims of misfortune. In terms of my connection to her, it is colorless at the moment.

If I were to walk away, sure, I'm sure she would hate me since she has placed her hope in me somewhat, but, well, chances are I would not hear of it, either because I would have escaped, be captured and imprisoned, or killed. I don't have to consider her in any particular way if I didn't want to, but I am because it is only humane, I think. I've lived for so long only for myself, and as a result, it would not pain me much to once again, live selfishly, and make selfish decisions.

I say those things, but yet, here I am, thinking about it all. Why do I even try? If I am to help her be safe, I need genuine conviction, not some feeble desire to be caring or righteous. Can I handle it? Can I handle this properly? Or am I just foolishly endangering the both of us with a putrid desire to try to be a hero or "responsible"? I know that right now the biggest problem I have is the lack of acknowledgment for living. I lack a genuine conviction to protect with desire and the ability to consider someone else's will. On top of that, I truly lack a desire to live for myself. At the moment, the only reason why I still live is that I have lived habitually without interruption, sort of like a machine that constantly gets power, and as a result, never stops working.

When you live without thinking and only chasing emptiness, it is easy to lose track of time, however, as a direct result, you lose connection to yourself, a trade-off that is now, for once, troubling for me.

"Heh... So much for avoiding negativity..." I told myself as I laid back towards the edge of the lake I was on, trying to relax a little more seeing how I've failed my quest to decompress. I needed to figure myself out. It is only a shame that it is damn difficult to though. I closed my eyes and let my mind wander into nothingness. In the end, avoiding was the only thing I knew best. It was truly a frustrating fact that resided at the very back of my mind.

"Huh. So you _are_ stressed." As usual, it seems that my female resident enjoys popping into my vicinity whenever I am done deliberating things. I opened my eyes and turned around to face her. After doing so, I took notice of the fact that my villager seemed to be in the attire to join me inside my lake. She was wearing a towel around her torso, covering herself up for modesty, although, to be quite honest, the towel only made her more alluring seeing how it was barely big enough to cover everything from her chest to below her waist.

Regardless, I turned back after noticing her, trying my best to remain within an appropriate mindset now that I was no longer alone. "I see you've chosen to visit." As I said the words, she had approached the lake and began settling herself towards my left, leaving a moderate amount of distance between our bodies while doing so. As she finished, I chose to close my eyes since otherwise I would've had them looking where I shouldn't.

"Yes, I have. I was hoping that we could speak to one another again."

"How come?"

"I was worried. I couldn't help but think about how you were _truly_ doing."

"About how I was _truly_ doing?"

"Yes. I've been curious about your... _perspective_ on everything."

"What about my perspective?" My question prompted a discomforting silence from my visitor as if she was thinking carefully of what to say to me.

"Em... Well..." Were the only words she seemed to mouth off as she delayed her response. I did not speak as I did not want to interrupt whatever thoughts she was trying to organize. "I was wondering in terms of... I'm not sure how to word it... Your intent about the situation you're in?"

"My intent?"

"Yes, your _intent_. Your _desires_. Your _plan_ as to how to deal with the situation. Your _knowledge_ of what to do next?" Heh, so she's worried about the very thing I have been trying to piece together. "I know that perhaps I am being very presumptuous with what I am about to say but... to me... it seems that you're... lost?"

"Lost huh?" Her question caused me to sigh, a gesture in that she was right on the spot from her _assumption_. "That's quite something to say. What makes you believe it?" I asked in hopes to hear her thoughts on the matter. Perhaps if she talks about what she thinks, it'll help me out of the hole I am trying to climb out of.

"Well, for one, you've barely asked any questions about... _anything_. I figured you'd be asking a lot of them seeing how you were so curious about my power when you first met me. Instead, we've barely spoken and you have not tried to inquire in the tiniest bit. If anything, I am surprised that I managed to be the more social one between the two of us, excluding our conversation in the morning today."

"What type of questions were you expecting then?"

"Since you're asking, does that mean that you are not particularly curious about anything?"

"I wouldn't say I am not curious, it's more of that I simply have not been particularly inclined to ask yet."

"I see..." It seems that my response solicited some silence from her. "... Well, in terms of the questions, I figured you'd ask me more about who I am, why I am chased and captured. Perhaps on who my captors are and why they most likely keep a hand on me all the time when they can. Things like that. But you haven't. You didn't even ask me for my name."

"You introduced yourself to me before I felt the need to."

"That is beside the point. I am confused as to what you think you should be doing. Out of all of my handlers, you've already shown yourself to be quite the aloof one. That very fact is enough to fascinate me, or maybe scare me. Since you've asked so little, I was afraid that maybe you were... I don't know.. Lost? Or maybe overburdened already?"

"For someone who showed signs of incredible submission and fear in the morning, you are quite curious about me. Why think so much about me? Shouldn't you be more worried about what you'll be doing instead of thinking about my plans? Surely it is of more benefit for you to simply do as you're supposed to until you can find a hole that you can escape from."

"Find a hole to escape from? What are you implying?"

"What do you mean? I'm sure it's part of your plans to escape when you can at some point. After all, you've done it before."

"Wait, what makes you think I want to escape right off?"

"You don't?"

"I do."

"Then why argue then?"

"Because you're wording this argument as if I want to desert you within a moment that I can." Her voice was a little higher toned. Was she offended?

"You don't? You wouldn't?"

"No, not really!" Her voice was louder for that statement. I had angered her it seems like.

"Why not? What would you have to gain by sticking with me?"

"Because!..."

"Because?..."

"Because... " She wasn't finding the words. She sounded frustrated. "Ugh... Okay, how about we disregard about why and instead we focus on the fact in that you seem very indifferent to our circumstance?"

"Indifferent?"

"Yes. Indifferent."

"What about it?"

"You're indifference is very concerning for me."

"Why?"

"Because it is confusing. This morning you asked me that we should try to trust each other. While I agree with this idea after your moving statement you said to me today, I can't help but feel that maybe you happened to say far more than you intended. Or that maybe you're handling this all on your own without balance. I know nothing of you, what you think, or what you currently feel."

"You haven't exactly asked about anything regarding those matters."

"I know, but I was going to within time. However, my main question still stands. Are you curious about who I am? Who my captors are? I believe that it would be of benefit if I explain these details."

"If you think it is important, then go ahead."

"Do you not personally believe that it would benefit you to know?"

"At the moment, I cannot think of how knowing such information can impact any future decisions."

"See, that is what I have an issue with."

"What is the issue you're having?"

"You're not invested. How am I supposed to trust you and work with you if you have nothing in mind? How are we meant to keep each other safe if you don't seem to realize the significance of our current problem?" By this point, I had opened my eyes as a means of displaying attention to our current conversation. As so, I was laying my eyes on her, noticing how her face had managed to shape from emptiness to frustration.

"What do you want me to do then?"

"This isn't about what I want you to be doing in particular. My question is more reliant on the idea of whether you even care in particular about our problem."

"I'm sure you can understand that the responsibility that was currently placed on me is one that is very confusing and frustrating?"

"I understand completely. It is because of my understanding that I want to enlighten you with any information you may want to know. However, you are not interested! What's the point of telling you something if you find no relevance of it!?" Wow, she managed to exclaim a sentence to me. Her voice was no longer empty and monotone as it usually was.

"What is the harm in telling me anything you want me to know? Just because I have no personal relevance for it yet does not mean anything you tell me is useless."

"As I said, this isn't about the essence of information or questions, this is about my curiosity regarding your intent! You seem disconnected! I cannot rely on you if you are not personally inclined to be involved!"

"If you feel that way, then why bother voicing these frustrations of yours? Just come up with a plan and move forward. There is no reason why you should feel so inclined to rely on me."

"If you believe that then what was the point of voicing an entire paragraph of instruction to me this morning?! If you believe that I should wander off, then why even bother bringing to light about trusting each other at a minimum and working together to guarantee each other's safety?"

"Because otherwise, you would unnecessarily behave and restrain yourself in a manner that would prohibit you from helping yourself."

"And what about you? Are you telling me that you voicing me your desire for me to trust you and rely on you was just nothing but to give me independence? Are you not worried that I'd do something to put you in danger?"

"Do you want to escape your situation?"

"Yes."

"Are you capable of doing so? Even at this moment in time?"

"Yes, very likely."

"Then do so."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I want to rely on you. I want us to rely on and help each other!"

"And what difference does it make for me to help you when you can do it on your own?"

"Because you're different okay! I don't know, but for once I have a handler that isn't an oppressive tyrant or psychopath! I want us to work together because I believe that if I don't, I'd just be in more danger! I'd be more afraid! I want to take advantage that for once my handler is someone that can look me in the eye without any malice! However, I feel terrified right now because of you!" Her voice became slightly shaky towards the end of her sentence.

"Terrified? Why?"

"Because you don't care! You may be curious, but ultimately you don't care! And that fact scares me because I want to rely on you! You seem capable of helping me and as so, I want to help you. I want to treasure the fact that I don't feel physically and mentally threatened by you! Is it wrong for me to believe so?!"

"We've only known each other for a couple of days, literally. We barely know each other. Your desires are far more intense than they should be. Why are you this invested in someone like me?"

"Because you saved me! Because you showed yourself to be capable of being strong! Because you've spoken and cared to converse with me, even if our conversations were short! I know that we've barely had much, but that is only from your perspective! After everything I've done, you are a literal breath of fresh air for me! I never thought I would meet a decent person again and here you are! You aren't perfect but at the very least there is a foundation! But you don't seem to care and as so I feel frustrated suddenly! I know that my desires are quite rushed and perhaps very broken, but please, tell me that you have some idea as to what it means for you to have lectured me this morning and what it may mean for you to volunteer to help each other out! Otherwise, you're going to suffer needlessly and I am going to be shrouded in fear!" Her voice was shaking the whole time, but it never broke. I could see in her eyes that she meant every word, even if her eyes themselves looked empty. Her words had true meaning and so did the tone of her voice. At this very moment, I had been lectured by her just as I had lectured her this morning. I heard it all.

I sighed a reaction which prompted a shiver from my lecturer. I purposely riled her up so that I could hear as much of her concerns as possible, a part of this situation that I was clueless about ever since the beginning. Now that I knew her thoughts, I could align myself with them a lot more accurately. It was all a plan I came up with the second our conversation began, but as you can tell, I had to draw some fire, fire that I hope didn't burn the only bridge between us.

I stayed silent as I pondered everything, trying to piece my response. To be completely transparent, I was still not confident. I still had some desire to withdraw, and I'd be lying if I told you that her current lecture didn't make me want to avoid everything completely. I wasn't perfect and did not have the means to take proper responsibility, and yet, she is still trying to work with me. In my eyes, she's a fool for being so hung up on someone who has barely done anything with her. I'm sure that she knows very well that she is probably gambling her overall wellbeing by sticking around me when she could continue as she's always done. It was all far heavier than I'd prefer. It was all also very confusing for me too as I genuinely did not understand some of her reasoning and desire.

I wasn't sure if I was capable, I've said that countless times as it is. But she wanted to try. I can't promise anything. I can't guarantee anything. Will she still accept it?

"As you said, I am not perfect. I am not confident. I do not believe I have the means to take responsibility for your well-being. I'll probably mess up. I cannot promise you that I won't run away or change from being completely indifferent. Even now, after everything you've told me, I cannot promise that I will be able to support you against all of these odds..." Her eyes began to tense up as if I had offended her once again. "But, if you are stupid enough to want to stick to me even after I admitted all of that, I can try. I can try and see if we can help each other fully. This time, I am saying this without any half-hearted promise as I had done this morning. Do you genuinely wish to trust and rely on me, and for me to trust and rely on you?"

Her face softened into a light smile, a smile that brought a tiny bit of warmth to me, but also a tremendous sense of fear to me. It was so cold that the warmth was consumed. I braced myself for her response now that I had spoken.

"Yes, please. I want us to rely on each other Victor." Her face beamed a bright smile that showed relief above all else.

"In that case..." I felt cold. I felt extremely cold. "... I will try, _Adelina_..." Her name froze my blood and my heart.

She beamed a grateful smile which made her look incredibly graceful.

At the same time, however, never in my life...

... **had I felt so cold**.


	7. First Outing Together

Why? Why was I feeling so cold? Why did I feel frozen by anxiety and fear? I said everything that was worrying me, I was accepted regardless of them, and yet, I still felt fear and anxiety?

" _ **I will try Adelina**_."

My response was repeating and echoing in my brain, and every single time it did, I felt as if I was plunged into a never-ending hole over and over again. _Why did I feel so sick? Why did I feel even worse than I already was? Shouldn't I feel relieved knowing that I was being understood by Adelina herself? Why did I feel as if I just made a bigger mistake? Why?_

Regardless of the turmoil unfolding inside of me, I forced myself to remain stoic on the outside. I did not want to risk having this anxiety showcased, mostly because I simply do not understand it. I was certain that it would only cause worry for my partner and that it would be incredibly problematic, especially after what we just went through. I could only imagine how frustrating it would be for both of us if I act up because of this feeling inside of me.

Luckily for me, it seemed that Adelina did not sense any discomfort emanating from me. Instead, she kept smiling after hearing my promise. She truly did look graceful as she did. It was somewhat odd for me though, considering I've always seen her as a far more empty individual. It was somewhat alluring, noticing that she could be much more expressive. Well, I shouldn't be saying much since in the end it doesn't make much of a difference to me.

I reclined backward back into the edge of my lake, trying to collect my thoughts as I did. Now that we had gotten all of the major emotional and personal baggage out of the way, now it was time for the practical side of things. Adelina mentioned that she would not mind disclosing information about herself or her captors, meaning that in some form, her existence or her captors are not clandestine, or at least, not to her. Because of that, where should I start my questioning? I'm sure that either topic will be long stories of themselves.

Well, since they're both likely to be novels worth of explanation, I might as well ask about her captors first. At the moment, I need a better understanding of who the hell they even are and where they come from.

"Well, now that we have gotten all of _that_ out of the way, is it alright if I start asking questions now?" I began my attempt.

"Yeah, sure. What would you like to ask?" She faced me as I closed my eyes, ready for the information I was about to request.

"For now, I think I'll ask about your captors. I have several things I need to know about them. I'll ask about you later depending on how important it becomes to me."

"Oh... Well, alright. What do you want to know about them?"

"For now, give me a general review of who they are, what they do, where they come from." _Here it goes_...

"Okay, well let's see... All I confidently know about them is that my captors are part of a huge network, some form of a group that works on a higher scale. They work in separate _domains_ , or departments if you'd like to word it that way, and they rely on a formal, military-like system for productivity. The ones responsible for my well being are a combat and infiltration focused squadron, a squadron mostly made up of reconnaissance, heavy combat, and anti-intelligence stealth soldiers. I'm sure you can vouch for this somewhat seeing as how you were invaded and attacked by them." She began her explanation. "In terms of their individuality, it seems that every single _soldier_ has some form of advanced magic ability, usually some form of trick that they can use on themselves or against their opponent. For example, for some reason, the most common ability I've noticed in their ranks is local teleportation, a skill that proves itself incredibly strong against an average opponent. With their will, they can teleport anywhere in an immediate area as long as they've been to it before."

"Oh, I see. So are they the military from somewhere or are they some form of mercenaries? And what other skills do they tend to have?"

"Em, well, as far as I know, they're sort of the military from the place they come from. From what little I've witnessed, they come from a place centered around an oligarchic government system where both the noble and the high ranked military officials rule. Their community is somewhat broken, however, making their home quite chaotic to the common folk, and as so, the means of their home surviving recently rely on the military and their work. Calling them a military force at this point is no longer accurate as their job is no longer enforcement or defense, but simply illicit tasking and performance as a means of supplying stable funds and resources for everyone. Even with that effort, however, their community is still incredibly unstable where only those in the military benefit. Seeing how much a force their community has become, in the end, calling them a paramilitary guerilla group would be more appropriate as they have very little civilian presence anymore. They're seemingly desperate to stay a community, and as so, there is a small but very protected group that leads them. As to what caused them to be desperate from the beginning, however, I don't know. Their home is incredibly private and almost sealed off as the only way to get there is through their teleportation ability. Unless you're one of them or are taken along, you have no way of entering. Their home, in a sense, is some form of a sealed-off land or dimension. I know this is very vague but I've had little exposure to the place." She sighed and then inhaled to get her next words in. "As for their skills, I am not very well versed in terms of what they all have. My presence around them has been limited to the squadron responsible for me, so the only other skill I know they possess is some form of mental and physical destabilization skill. They have some form of innate or trained ability where they can mentally torture you by exposing you to illusionary stimuli that is incredibly painful, disturbing, or depressing. Even though you are not physically wounded by this ability, your reactions from the stimuli will feel completely natural and in turn, can cause actual physical complications from your body reacting naturally. For example, if they were to make you feel cold, even though you are not truly cold, you will feel the pain of frostbite and the burn of your nerves being stunted, and since your brain cannot instinctually tell the difference between the feeling just being an illusion from it being real, your body will react to the stimuli accordingly even though there was no issue at all, forcing you into a physical stunt, kind of like an allergic reaction to pollen for some. You feel it, and your body will react to it even though it was never an actual problem from the beginning."

After her multiple explanations, some dots began to connect in my head. For one, I had already guessed that her captors were some form of a paramilitary group seeing as how they operated back when I had run into them. I also assumed that they possessed incredibly peculiar and dark but effective skills. Now I know this for sure, although, it is unfortunate that Adelina doesn't know more. Something tells me that whatever else they might have, it'd be great to know about beforehand. As for where they're from, I cannot make any sense of it, only because of the lack of information I was given. Essentially, I was dealing with a dangerous underground paramilitary group. Time for more questions.

"These people, I've noticed that they're not a hundred percent human, so what are they exactly? Also, what are the departments they work in exactly? What is their influence overall?"

"They're not human, that is for sure. To be frank, I have no real clue as to what exactly they are. All I can say however is that for some reason, their overall look reminds me of endermen, although I know this is just a personal opinion. I have no clue if they have an actual connection to them or if it just coincidental." _Huh, now that she mentioned it, she was right somewhat. They wore black clothes, had deep purple eyes, and could teleport. The only differences the captors had were that their skin was pale white and that they were not freakishly tall, or at least, the ones I've met haven't been._ "As for their work, it all revolves around an underground and illicit industry. The best I know is that they are hired to do the dirty work for other groups, settlements, or countries. They can assassinate, infiltrate, fight, steal, imprison, or capture anything or anyone as long as they're paid. For example, for some reason, they have eyes on me for capture and containment, and as so, they chase me wherever I go. Why? I have no real clue, all I know is that they don't mind being dirty about it." Her eyes became cold as she spoke about this particular topic. "Because they are particularly effective in this industry, you will find out that they have a very good influence in corrupt or chaotic groups or countries. Anyone who deals with these types of things will recognize them."

"You say that they have influenced other groups and countries? What countries and where are they located?" Now I was interested in the geography of this world since I was so isolated.

"Um... Well, unfortunately, I do not know of all the countries or groups they have collaborated with specifically or where they are exactly. The only one that is worth a mention to you is a kingdom east of your village several weeks worth of traveling away, assuming you're walking. It is the kingdom nearest to here and it's called the Sevali Union. It is a very withdrawn kingdom that allows very few to go in and even less to go out. I ran into it a couple of months ago as I was running around this world trying to find a decent place to stay or hide. Apart from the Sevali, all the other groups or countries are far away, incredibly far away that you'd better know how to run fast, run forever, or teleport to get to them within a reasonable amount of time. Either that or I simply don't know where they are or how to get to them. By the way, just to be clear, I am only familiar with settlements from the east of this village. I have no clue if there are any other settlements near here in any of the other directions."

"Huh, that's interesting. I've gone on expeditions that had me gone for weeks from here and I had never run into anyone anywhere. To hear about this Sevali Union is... incredibly surprising."

"That means that you had not gone far enough to run into it. I said that it is several weeks of travel from here, but take into account that I was moving quickly and desperately. I'm sure that for an average journey, it might take even longer to reach it than it took me to reach here from there." If her descriptions were correct, then that means that she was probably right in that I had simply never traveled far enough to run into them.

"Still, I'm sure that at least one person could have stumbled upon here at some point, if not from Sevali then at least from any other direction."

"Wait, are you saying that I'm your first actual visitor?" Her surprise caused me to open my eyes and face her only to find a surprised look on her face.

"I could have sworn I told you that before."

"No, you told me I was the first occupant."

"Oh... Well, you're also the first visitor I've ever had."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"For how long?"

"For as far as I can remember."

"Wow, that is... incredibly puzzling. Is this village _that_ isolated?" She asked the question as if it was for herself. As so, I turned my head back and closed my eyes again, letting her revel in the confusing but true fact.

"Your captors, do they have a name of some sort?" I changed the topic.

"Ah, yes they do. If I remember correctly, they're known as the Phantom Company, a name they adopted due to their tactics and strategies being akin to that of phantoms."

"Phantoms?"

"Yes. They gained the reputation of being an incredibly effective stealth group in the underground industry. Their soldiers are trained to fight quickly but effectively, only ever showing themselves when they know they'll get the job done. Often they'll strike when their target is weak and ineffectual and will leave a very little amount of evidence behind. They are difficult to pinpoint and when targeted by them, you'll suffer endless paranoia from fear of being struck. In other words, their name is a play on the idea of how undead phantoms tend to hunt those who are tired and how illusionary phantoms can be deceiving to your senses."

"I see... The Phantom Company huh?... Just as I had predicted, I am now part of something quite troublesome." Now that I had the important things explained to me, I stood up and readied myself to go home. It was getting late for me and I wanted to wake up early tomorrow so that I could go on a little errand trip.

"Oh... Are you leaving?"

"Yes. It's getting late for me. I have things to do tomorrow and I'd like to rest as much as I can beforehand." I looked at my watch and became amazed that it was already 8:00 PM.

"What type of things?"

"I'll be going on an errand trip to collect more wood, and maybe some extra materials here and there along the way."

"Oh, would it be okay if I accompany you? I'd like to be of assistance and not freeload off of you." She made a little tense expression on her face as if what she just asked was bad, puzzling me as a result.

"Hmm... Well, I'll be leaving around five in the morning, maybe a little earlier. If you can handle waking up that early, feel free to join me."

"Oh, okay. I can work with that. Do I meet you at your house at five or before?"

"I'll be waking up around four in the morning or so, so feel free to do whatever until our time of departure."

"Understood." I nodded to show my understanding and acceptance of her request. Now that we were done talking, I began to make my way back to my house.

"Em... Victor?.." Her soft voice asked behind me.

"Yes?" I stopped in my tracks to listen to her.

"Thank you... For everything so far..."

"I've only done what is natural..." I resumed walking again.

"Em..."

"Yeah?" _What is it now?_

"Do you happen to have a spare towel? I forgot to bring one." _Oh boy..._ I turned around to face her. At the same time, she began standing up, showcasing how she indeed did not have a spare piece of clothing to make her decent. Had I not been so tired, I would've lost my mind to her wet and incredulous figure being magnified by the barely effective towel she had wrapped around herself. She could've easily driven a pure man insane with the image she gave off.

I sighed at her request and then proceeded to walk down the stone path back to my village. "I'll get something for you. I'll be right back." After I helped her become decent, we both made our way back home and tucked in for the night.

After setting my watch to wake me up at four in the morning, I fell asleep.

* * *

"There, these should last you long enough." I handed multiple stacks of arrows to Adelina who then placed them into her quivers for use. It was around 4:30 AM and we were finishing up our preparations. I spent about twenty minutes teaching Adelina how to improve her arrows, and fortunately, she proved herself to be a quick learner. She wasn't as good as me, but she had improved and was sure to be perfect within time.

We were both armored up with armor made from chains and iron plates, a preparation I took for the sake of being cautious. My plans did not involve combat in any particular way, and as so, usually, I would've prepared without it, however, recently my luck hasn't been on my side so I wanted to play it safe instead. As for weapons, I chose to stick with a classic iron broadsword and a backup iron dagger, both of which were holstered on my body. Adelina on the other hand opted for her bow and arrows along with multiple daggers as backup weaponry. In terms of weapons, I was sure that we were overkill, but as I said, I wanted to be safe.

Aside from armor and weaponry, both Adelina and I were carrying backpacks to carry supplies in. I was also carrying an iron ax and an iron pickaxe, both of which would come useful for my plans later. Adelina was carrying lighter items such as water, food, and torches as she had insisted on wanting to lift some of the items instead of having me carry it all on my own. I wanted to talk her out of it, both because I can handle the weight and because I wanted to consider her combat style. I didn't know exactly how she fought, but since she had shown familiarity with a bow and light armor, I assumed that she was some sort of mobile archer. If she carries too much, she won't be able to last long enough in combat. She, however, insisted that it was fine and that her choice to help would not interfere with her abilities. Since I did not want to argue about it, I gave in and now she's lifting some of the things with me.

"Alright, I'm ready to go. How about you?" I looked over my assistant one last time, taking in her picture. As always, she seemed to prefer lighter clothing as she was wearing a grey t-shirt and denim shorts. The clothing was fit and tight, highlighting her figure beneath her armor, a detail that was sure to distract me if it wasn't for the armor itself. She was holding her bow in her left hand and an arrow in her right and was wearing her assigned backpack along with her many quivers on her back. Right off the bat, she looked as if she was already encumbered, and yet, she showed no signs of strain anywhere on her, puzzling me as a result. _How strong was she? Or more importantly, will she be alright with so much that can throw off her balance?_

Her eyes were gazing into mines, her face unobstructed by the fact that she had tied her long white hair into a ponytail. She gave a little smirk as if she could read my confusion, an action that seemed unfitting when her white eyes seemed disconnected as they always have. Regardless, she followed up with a confident nod after her smirk, signaling to me that we were ready to move out.

* * *

I was expecting her to be proficient, but what she was managing to display was remarkably above that. Without hesitation or failure, she proved her skill over and over again on the helpless enemies in the open grass plain. Before her foes could even begin to act, they were neutralized completely without strain once they were targeted by her. As a man who fights with a sword, her combat display was extraordinarily out of the world for me. The way she moved, the way she acted, the way she analyzed and fought was from a different realm from mine. It was a definite learning experience for my mind.

It was only 4:43 AM, meaning that the sun was not completely out yet. As a result, there were hostile mobs all over the open grassy plain. This was fine as they didn't spawn often once morning came around. As a means of getting a warmup, I had suggested engaging in light combat with the few mobs around us, a suggestion Adelina accepted. Although I had suggested the idea as a means of warming ourselves up, I had also hoped that by exposing our combat styles to each other, we could give each other ideas on how to align them. After all, from this point forward, I don't think it is wrong to assume that we'll be fighting alongside each other.

That was my intent, but frankly, the way we both fought is difficult to tag together. Adelina's combat style involved her shooting targets from afar but quickly and constantly dashing for placement or evasion. Her speed for an archer type was impressive as she was able to cross tens of meters of distance within a second or two. Because of these traits, physical fighters such as creepers, zombies, and spiders stood no chance against her as they would not be able to reach her, not when she was so far away and was amazingly accurate. Skeletons and the rare enderman, on the other hand, forced a change in her tactics. Since skeletons were able to engage in ranged combat with their bows, had no flesh, and would increase their fire rate the closer she got to them, Adelina resorted to disarmament. By this, I meant that while constantly dodging arrows, she would shoot back and aim directly for a limb or their bow itself. Once she achieved either task, she would close in instantaneously and neutralize with her fists, feet, or her daggers. It was a simple tactic really, one that is easy to use against one or two skeletons at once. However, when there were groups of them along with other mobs, it became more and more complicated for her. Regardless of the difficulty, however, she managed to stay on top of the food chain and survive.

Endermen were a rarer enemy on the field, but when they did show up, I could tell Adelina struggled even at her skill level. Since endermen could always dodge projectiles through teleportation and could teleport spontaneously to evade close-quarter attacks, Adelina had to resort to a simplistic cat and mouse hunt. She would try her best to be as quick as possible and either lung for a stab with a dagger when they were close or attempt to predict their next location after teleporting for an ambush with her blade. It worked, but it wasn't efficient. At one point, she was in an engagement with a single enderman for almost five minutes straight because it was especially flighty.

As for my combat style, it was a complete mirror of hers, only that mine catered to sword fighting. Similar to Adelina, I would close distance quickly and slash with my sword with enough strength to either weaken or kill my opponent. Because I was vigorously conditioned with close-ranged weaponry, I had over time perfected evasion, blocking, deflection, and attacking. For enemies such as zombies, spiders, and creepers, I would simply lung in faster than they could react and stab their torso, disable their limbs, or completely severe their heads. This form of fighting was difficult to fully enact with a broadsword sometimes so instead, I would sometimes use my backup dagger for quick stabs and lunges. Regardless, because I was fast, faster than everything, including Adelina, I did not struggle with such enemies.

Unlike Adelina, endermen proved easy prey. Even though their teleportation was quick and could be used to ambush me from any of my blind spots, the endermen were simply not fast enough to strike me. Whenever I was in an engagement with one, no matter how spontaneous it came, my instincts were faster. Before their teleportation could finish putting them in place, I already knew and had swung where they'd be. If I was not that fast, I was fast enough to attack before they could get their hands on me. Ordinarily, before they could make a genuine attempt at hurting me, they would already have a hole in their large but skinny torso or would have lost their long and thrashing limbs. The only part of them that would last is their screeches as they died from their open and lethal wounds.

Skeletons, on the other hand, proved to be the bane of my existence. As many know, the best way to beat a close-quarter fighter is to not fight them close-quarter at all. Skeletons were abusers of this principle as they shot from afar and would avoid getting too close. Unlike Adelina who had the skill to disarm them from a safe distance, I had to resort completely to lunging and evasion, and sometimes, some luck by deflecting incoming arrows with my sword. In general, I would always avoid skeletons and only ever engage head-on when I was wearing heavy armor or had a shield with me. Otherwise, I would get killed by an endurance fight. They had seemingly infinite ammo, had reliable accuracy, and would become more dangerous the closer you push your luck against them. As I was now, the only way I could retaliate was if the skeleton was alone. If he had friends to help, you have a better chance of catching me running away because I had no desire to deal with the shit they do otherwise.

If I did have the advantage, whether it be because I sneaked upon them, because they were alone, or because they were not ready to fire, I would dash towards them and use my fists, feet, or dagger to completely break them apart. A good punch or kick to their torso or heads would always break their structure apart, ending them of their miserable existence. As much as I wished for it though, I did not do this often because it would simply prove too dangerous. An arrow can do much more damage than a smack from a zombie or a bite from a spider. Not that they weren't dangerous creatures themselves, it's just that arrows were just pains in the ass to recover from.

Anyways, since both of our combat styles rely primarily on speed, thinking up a way to assist each other consistently was tricky for me. We were both capable against the general mobs so assistance was not necessary for those, and the only place we would need each other's help would be against our direct weak points. If Adelina came up against an enderman, I would handle it. If I came up against a group of skeletons, she would handle it. The idea went as far as that. Synchronizing ourselves was ultimately unnecessary. At most, unless we were going against a hoard of enemies, altering between standing back and attacking was the only strategy we could adopt. If my weapons were weak, Adelina could take care of them in my place. If she needed to reload or was running low on ammo, I would take the attention using my sword. In a general engagement, having both of us attack would simply be inefficient in the long run, or overkill.

This conclusion, however, was only based on the type of enemy we would be fighting and their numbers. The only other factor that could interfere is location. The environment and its qualities can also affect our abilities. I'm sure that it is common knowledge that for an archer of any type, an open area with minimal levels of obstruction is an ideal combat area, while for me, a swordsman, a close-quarters location with cover is better. If we are in the open, Adelina will be a far more effective combatant while a closed or tight area will be more efficient for me.

In the end, unless the environment was troublesome for one of us, rotating between who fights and who rests is the only real strategy we can adopt so far.

* * *

It was 6:14 AM and the sun was out far enough that enemies were no longer around us. At the moment, the only sound that was echoing around was the consistent thuds of my iron ax cutting into the tree bark I was chopping. Adelina and I had made it over to the forest I use to gather wood, and as so, we were both on standby collecting materials. I was collecting wood, a material I was meaning to get for days now, while on the other hand, Adelina was either collecting fruits or hunting animals for food. Initially, she was standing guard, however, after some time it was obvious that it was unnecessary as the only mobs around us were peaceful animals.

Since we were out early in the day, my manual labor wasn't exhausting as the morning wind was cooling me down, refreshing me of the building heat from my actions. Previously, I had learned the hard way how cruel the heat of the afternoon could be when performing tasks such as the one I was doing. As so, when it comes to manual labor, I always preferred to do it in the morning when it is both safe and cool. The light wind would brush up against the sweat on my skin relieving me of the stressing heat that made physical tasks a pain.

Gathering the wood did not take too long, only taking up around an hour of my day, and as so, both Adelina and I were eating fruits and cooked pork chops for breakfast. It was well deserved since we had both accidentally skipped out on eating back home. Considering the skipped meal and the manual labor we had both committed ourselves to accomplish, it was only natural our bodies were craving for a source of energy.

Luckily, it seemed that Adelina's cooking ability was great as she cooked the pork chops to a delicious state of perfection. There wasn't any seasoning, in particular, but with the orange juice we had made, it was pleasant enough as a meal. I was already sweaty and hot from the lumbering so the break was a nice breather. Adelina, on the other hand, seemed perfectly fine and was even restless as if she wanted more to do. She kept shifting and looking around curiously, reacting to the shuffling of bushes, leaves, or grass. Either that or an animal's call would earn her attention instead.

"It is peaceful here." She began.

"Yeah. There's not much going around here after all." I responded as I chewed on my last pork chop.

"Is it always like this?"

"Yes."

"How nice."

"Is it that surprising?"

"For me, yeah. It has been a while since I could lay off like this." She looked over to a white petal flower that was standing healthy and proud next to her. After noticing it, she reached over with her left hand, caressing the flower delicately and softly. Her touch caused the small plant to drag and bob as a response, earning a smile from Adelina in return. The visual was almost child-like and innocent, an image that matched Adelina's look well.

"I see." I didn't have anything to say, so I kept eating and relaxing. It was peaceful now, but considering my next plan for the day, it was going to be likely that it would no longer be.

After I finished eating, since I wanted to wait for my food to digest well, I spent some time turning the barks I had collected into wooden planks. It was a simple activity, one that would not be hindered by a full stomach. After a while, Adelina joined me, and for an hour, we spent silently but peacefully working with the pieces of wood in our inventories.

We talked to each other a little occasionally, but since we didn't know each other, and since I wasn't much of a conversationalist, it was more common for silence to take place between us. It was alright though as neither of us was bothered by that fact.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't need me to help you?" Adelina was standing next to me, analyzing my scratched and bleeding left shoulder that was moderately lacerated by a skeleton's arrow. Frankly, it was shameful that I would get injured in such a manner so quickly, especially when I was wearing some armor to protect me. The wound was big and deep enough that blood was seeping out, and it was also big enough that the bleeding would've proven a genuine threat. It is because of that fact that Adelina is currently doubting my request for her to not enact her healing power on me.

"An injury like this will solve itself." As before, within seconds, my shoulder began emitting a bright red light that enveloped and filled my wound. The light took away any feeling of pain and any symptoms that I would have experienced as a result of the injury too, making it easier for me to use my arm again as a result. To prove to Adelina that I would be fine, I wielded my sword and swung it finely multiple times, showing no sign of my movements being hindered. Unfortunately, my act of proof openly bewildered her, a reaction opposite of what I was hoping for.

"Now that I am witnessing it, what _is_ that power of yours?" She pointed at the shining red light on my shoulder, trying to examine it with her eyes from afar at the same time. She moved closer and then probed my injury, an action that elicited no reaction from me as it did not feel bad or unusual in any way.

"To be quite honest, I'm not sure as to what it is exactly or how it works. All I can confidently tell you is that one of its perks is that it can heal me, or something close to it." I answered as she kept probing my injury.

"What do you mean when you say that it's somewhat close to healing you? By the looks of it, it seems to do just that." She began pushing her index finger a little hard into my open but filled wound only for her finger to be stopped by the light itself. Even though my wound was only filled by light, this light was somehow solid enough that it was stopping her from hurting my wound any more.

"Technically, it does heal me. Every time I suffer a noticeable injury, this light always seems to show up and help me. It seemingly fills my wounds and removes both the pain and the physical symptoms the wound would have produced after its infliction. Not only that, but within time, I will completely heal physically, almost regardless of how bad the wound is. Unfortunately, any effects I may have already been experiencing from the wound before this _healing_ begins will stay and remain. Not only that, but it doesn't always trigger either and I have no idea how to trigger the healing on its own."

"What do you mean it doesn't always trigger? You said that it shows up every time a noticeable injury is inflicted on you."

"It is exactly that. It only shows up on _noticeable_ injuries, that is to say, injuries I can notice. This is going to be difficult for me to explain, but for whatever reason, the light will not help me with injuries that I have not perceived somehow. If I cannot identify the injury through sight or feeling, then it will not show up."

"Wow, that is... quite peculiar if you ask me. But if you can feel or see the injury, then it does heal you? How effective is it? Also, what kind of wounds will it work with? Just physical? How physical?" It seems Adelina was starting to get word-heavy with her questions now.

"As I said, I don't understand this damn power well yet. However, calling what it does _healing_ seems off."

"Huh? What do you mean? You said that it helps you recover from inflicted injuries didn't you?"

"When I say help, I do not mean that it helps directly with recovery, or at least, I've noticed that is not the direct effect. This power... What it seems to do is stabilize my health in proportion to my injury. This light right now is not healing me itself. It isn't causing recovery of its own. It does not grow whatever I'm missing back or remove any infections. All it does is maintain my body stable by taking the place of anything that is missing and will remain until I am good again. As long as my body is stable, my body on its own will recover." My words weren't the clearest so when I looked at Adelina, she seemed more perplexed than she was before, an unfortunate result from my lack of understanding on the topic.

"Eh... Well... Okay... So simply put, this light is a placeholder of what your injuries caused you to lose? If that is the case, then what about the recovery? You said that your body will recover on its own, but how exactly? Are you saying that within some time it will always grow back what it is that you lost? For example, if you were to lose a limb completely, will it grow back? Also, will this light mimic and substitute itself as a limb for you?"

"That, I cannot say. Frankly, all the injuries I've suffered so far were either slashes or small holes. I don't know how my body would recover from such a loss of that extent. I mean, I've already faced injuries that were ridiculously lethal such as open holes on my body, but I always recovered. So perhaps it would be as you predict?"

"Hmm... If that is the case, then I'm sure your body is another superpower itself. I've never met anyone in my life who's ever survived a hole anywhere, even with magical healing at their disposal. Even I cannot risk such an injury and I can heal anything as long as I am quick enough. You on the other hand, theoretically, could survive anything as long as you're conscious enough to notice it. You truly are a peculiar man, you know Victor?"

"I see. Well, regardless, since I don't know how much this power can do for me, I try my best to avoid injuries in general. I don't wish to push my luck and die a painful or slow death because I assumed I would recover. Even right now, after everything I've told you, I can't help but think that maybe it doesn't work exactly as I think. If anything, I've experienced injuries before that contradict my current explanations."

"Really? How so?"

"Well, for example, I said before that for this light to help me, I need to consciously notice my injury, however, in the past, I've recovered from lethal injuries that on infliction, caused me to pass out. On a technical level, I did not perceive the injury, and yet, I recovered. For example, this one time I was injured around my chest with an arrow. I cannot tell you exactly where on my chest I was pierced, but a piercing in my chest is sure to be lethal, especially without attention to it. I did not remember when I had gotten injured specifically, but all I could remember was that when I woke up, there was a broken, dried, and bloodied arrow on my chest and a big circular bruise on my chest, a usual sign that this power had helped me."

"That... sure is perplexing... Is there anything else?"

"Well, this next one is not particularly contradicting, but more so shocking. In terms of what injuries my power can assist me with, I honestly cannot say the limit. Usually, I would've said that as long as it isn't instantaneously lethal, it will help, but believe it or not, I have experienced a lethal, straight lethal injury before. I have no idea how this power truly works or what decides its presence, but from what I have experienced, its range is incredibly wide."

"What was the injury?"

"A creeper had blown up near me and ended up blowing shrapnel right through my neck. I remember very well the few seconds I was still conscious where I could no longer breath and was choking. The scene was brutal as I felt the hollowness of my neck's near nonexistence and the pool of blood that had left me almost immediately. It goes without a doubt that I was going to just die because this power hadn't even activated by the time I had passed out. No matter how you think of it, this one injury is one I can truly vouch that it would have killed me, even if it wasn't instantaneously lethal. But of course, I survived. I recovered. I woke up in the middle of the open with only my neck being bruised and any internal shrapnel dried and pushed out."

At first, there was silence as Adelina was simply staring at me. For some reason, this particular story had shocked her as her face had nothing but surprise plastered all over it. It confused me, but I didn't question the nature of her shock. "Wow..." Was all she said at first. "And you survived something like that?" Her voice was a little shaken as she kept staring at me.

"Clearly. Why do you sound so surprised?" I caved into my curiosity anyway.

"Well, it's... traumatizing, isn't it? I mean, you had experienced the very edge of living before death. Does that not bother you?"

"Uh... Well... No? I mean, I've experienced a good number of injuries already, some of which you've witnessed yourself. I don't see much of a point in being surprised anymore."

"Wow... You're... you're something else..."

"I see..."

* * *

"There, I see some on the wall over there." I pointed towards the far end of the current cave hallway we were walking through, towards the right side where a good chunk of coal was located. "Here. Hold this while I mine it." I passed Adelina the torch in my hand and wielded my pickaxe so that I could start mining.

At the moment we were inside a small cave system I had found not too long ago. It was somewhat narrow and dark as I had never really explored it before. Usually, because of how long I have lived in the general area, most of the cave systems I've been in I have already explored and looted. As a result, when it came to cave-found materials, I often needed to go on long and somewhat distant expeditions to find fresh and unlooted caves. However, about a month ago when I came to this cave system for stone, I accidentally found a whole unexplored section of the cave system when one of the stone walls I mined crumbled down. It was tight and narrow, but from the get-go possessed a good amount of iron and coal, so I kept it in the back of my mind if I were to need such materials again.

Since I have acquired a proficient partner in exploration, I decided to come here again to see how much of it I could explore and loot, hopefully, to recover enough materials so that a long expedition in the future is voided. So far it was decent as I had acquired a good amount of coal and iron, although I wanted more, especially since now I have a resident who I'll need to supply.

I say that, but to be quite honest I had already gathered a plentiful amount as I had. I just wanted to fully guarantee I wouldn't have to do this again.

For a couple of minutes, all that echoed throughout the hallway were the sharps impacts of my pickaxe into the coal ore. It was loud and annoying but an unavoidable evil nonetheless. Once the coal was mined, I retrieved it and saved it as part of our inventory.

"You know, I believe this is one of the few times I've ever entered a cave this deep. It's... quite scary to be honest." I looked over to Adelina who was constantly eyeing the long hallway and its few openings. It was obvious that she was scared without her needing to voice it.

"You get used to it after a while."

"I see. How deep are we anyway?"

"Not that deep. I've been far deeper into this hole before."

"I see. Are we going to go deeper then?"

"Depends if this branch of the cave has anything else to offer." Adelina passed me my torch back and we began walking again. Luckily we weren't running into too many monsters considering how dark the cave is. It was a blessing, of course, otherwise, I'm sure it would have driven Adelina into hysteria. She was afraid as it is with barely any confrontation, and considering her recent trauma in one, it was surprising she didn't hesitate to come with me at all.

"Oh boy..." She took a deep breath and began to follow me.

The process of scouting hallways and openings repeated itself numerous times, but it is all obviously to be expected. I found coal here, some iron over there. Within time, we both had our inventories full of coal, iron, and some gold that were sure to supply us both far more than we may need. By the time I chose to end our exploration, my watch was telling me that it was already 3:34 PM, meaning that it would soon be dusk. If I wanted to return home without the pain of nighttime, we needed to make our way out and our way home now.

Unfortunately, because of my greedy nature, we were pretty deep and that was surely going to delay our trip home. We were deep enough where we could find lava, gold, and redstone ore after all. If I guided us out quickly enough, we may have the chance to return without a problem. However, since the cave system was one I had just recently explored, it was easier said than done.


	8. First Outing Together: Part 2

"How do you feel about spending the night in this cave?" I worded my question as I stared at my watch trying to process all of the possible plans I could adopt in my head.

"Spending the night? _Here_?" Her voice presented a hint of disbelief as if I had said something heretical to her.

"Yes, in this cave."

"Why?"

"Because it may need to happen." Frankly, I didn't enjoy the idea of spending a night here either, but at the moment I could not guarantee that we could make it out and make it home at a reasonable time. Finding our way out of here will take some time as it is, but then the trip back will last even longer. Even if we make it out of this cave, we don't have the resources to make a decent home anywhere on the surface either, so it'll come down to a gamble of our safety if we chose to start a trip home without a decent place of shelter along the way.

"What? Why? It's not that late is it?"

"It isn't early enough to guarantee a safe and stable trip home. Not when we're this deep in the cave and this far from my village."

"I see. Well, is it particularly safe to shelter in a place like this? I've never tried it before and I'm not fond of the idea."

"It isn't particularly safe, but it is safer than trying to shelter on the surface at night without a decent home's worth of protection. At the very least, we have a roof above our heads and enough light that can deter the possibility of an enormous amount of monsters showing up. Not only that, but hiding will be easier and the lack of pathways around us will make it easier to predict where we might get attacked."

"I see. Well, it seems you have a decent plan already so I'll simply follow your lead, mostly because I don't have a better plan myself. I know very well how frustrating it is to be unsheltered at night. That being said, where exactly do we hole up?"

"That... is a good question." Digging into a cave for shelter is not something foreign to me, but as much as I am used to it, it is still dangerous. Caves are not easy to terraform without risking a collapse or taking too much time, and as so, we won't have the choice of building anything into a favorable state. We'll have to hope that we can find some corner or hallway that are both spacious enough to reside in along with good and reachable escape routes. When residing in a cave, the worst-case scenario is being intruded upon by monsters, therefore, we'll need either the space to react or the exits to escape. Otherwise, we'll be pinched and trapped.

As far as I can remember, the majority of this cave system houses long and open hallways that are constantly intertwined with each other making most of it unfavorable. The only exception is the branch that we're in as it is generally tighter and is limited in openings. Usually, this would be good, but I'm inclined to say that this branch is perhaps a little too tight and too closed off.

As Adelina and I were exploring, I noticed that the walls were often more tight than I was used to. Usually, the walls in most cases provide enough space where even in hallways you could have more than enough space to swing a sword, but in this branch of the cave, I noticed that unless I wasn't careful, I would risk banging my sword on a rock or the wall from the lack of space. If that wasn't a sign, then the fact that sometimes Adelina and I couldn't even stand next to each other would have been instead. On top of the fact that I would have to be careful about my swinging, Adelina couldn't move and position herself properly as often either. The lack of space sometimes resulted in her not being able to provide cover fire against some zombies or spiders because either I would be in the way, or she couldn't move around to get an angle.

The walls being tight was one concern already, but the lack of openings was another. Most hallways were surprisingly closed in the sides, meaning that they were only one way. If we get pushed from one side, then we can only go the opposite way and that isn't good for hiding, and considering that some of the hallways were long, it also meant that flanking was out of the question. If we got pushed from both sides... well... then fighting is our only option.

In any case, this branch of the cave was better for shelter, but it all came down to luck. The only factor that decides whether we'll be truly fine is whether or not there'll be a lot of monsters around. From my past experiences, I can say that as long as we light up most of the branch, which we have already done through exploration, then we should be fine. Monsters rarely show up when there is light around and at most, we'll only need to stand guard a couple of times as we rest. Still, even with countermeasures, we won't be free of worry and I cannot control whether or not monsters want to make us meals for their night

"I take it that we should start looking around then?" I looked over at Adelina as she asked and nodded my head in affirmation, a gesture which for some reason prompted a smile from her. Regardless, I ignored it and began scouting for a suitable place to shelter with her following closely behind me.

_Let's hope this is as simple as it has always been for me_.

* * *

The process took a considerable amount of time, both because I wanted to be truly sure that the place we found was safe enough and because in the process, I decided that we should also look for the way out and map it in our heads. After all, I felt better if we at least knew how to get ourselves out instead of losing ourselves inside of the dark hellhole that we were going to try to sleep in.

At the moment it was nearing 6:00 PM, meaning that the surface outside was darkening by the second. As so, we were in the cave preparing our little shelter. As we scouted around looking for a good place to be, we ended up finding a particular hallway that was essentially perfect. It was a little tight and awkward in shape but it was also very open but closed off. Calling a hallway felt a little off but it was essentially a little pathway that led to an open room with only one entrance. The entrance itself was in an elevated position in comparison to the ground in the rest of the cave's branch, meaning that with a little barricading and slight terraforming, we were able to guarantee that at the minimum, we would be able to keep creepers, skeletons, and zombies from reaching us.

The entrance was essentially a cliff from the rest of the cave, and as so, to be able to climb up, I made little holes into the wall leading up to the entrance so that Adelina and I could climb up or down. Along with the holes, I made tiny little platform slots so that they would be easier to grab and step on too. Since the holes were meant to be scaled, this meant that skeletons, zombies, and creepers could not use them to get up since they did not possess the strength or the limbs necessary to do so.

Spiders and endermen were still a threat, but considering their nature, there wasn't much I could do with the lack of materials. At the very least, when it comes to spiders, because of the height of the wall and the spiders' loud hissing, by the time they climbed up the cliff, chances are, either Adelina or I would be ready to face them. Endermen on the other hand, well, the most we had going our way was that they were unlikely to show up. As far as I knew, endermen did not seem to show up often in tight spaces.

Apart from the holes in the wall, I also moved some boulders that were in our room towards the edge of the cliff. They were big enough to provide good cover so I figured that it would be good to have them at the cliff where Adelina could use them as shields from skeletons if she stood guard. Not only that, but they could also serve as a means of killing anything directly in front of our cliff as we could push them off and crush whatever was down there.

Adelina, on the other hand, made a campfire, a furnace, and prepared food for both of us when we were hungry. She also went ahead and made a couple of more arrows using some flint she had gotten on her own time and tried to repair our weapons as best as she could. She was able to fix her bow pretty well but was only able to sharpen our daggers and my sword. It was alright though since we didn't have the proper materials for her to do any better. If anything, she proved herself plentifully useful considering our circumstances.

The place wasn't the greatest but with our little improvements, it felt better than anything else we could have done. Of course, it had a couple of problems such as the lack of proper warmth in the place and the lack of darkness. Since there wasn't anything, in particular, that could cause safe heating meant that it might get uncomfortably cold. On top of that, with all the lights around, it might also prove difficult to sleep well. At most, we could take away a couple of torches from our room to fix the issue, but taking away torches meant that it would only be colder. We could also leave the furnace on but that meant having to constantly refill it with coal. Not only that but since the furnace was rudimentary in creation, it meant that it was inconsistent in the way it stayed lit and might only prove itself no better than a campfire would.

"I think these should be decent enough." I heard Adelina say behind me, prompting me to turn around and face her. Once I did, I took notice of two little leather rags on her hands, both of which seemed very long and slightly thick in design.

"What are those for?" I asked as I reached over and grabbed one, feeling the leather in my hands as I tried to analyze it.

"They're makeshift sleeping masks. I figured with all the light around these might be useful. Although, considering their length I might as well call them blindfolds." As she spoke, she began tying her "sleeping mask" around her eyes trying to show off their intended purpose.

"Do they work?"

"Yeah, I can't see anything but darkness. Although... they smell... _weird_." She untied her sleeping mask and then smelled it, only for her to show visible disgust on her face.

"I see. Good enough." I placed the blindfold in my pocket, giving her a nod of appreciation in the process.

"So, how does it look out here? Anything worth noting?" While Adelina had kept herself busy inside our room, I was outside of it by the entrance looking down towards the rest of the cave's floor and hallway. I had told her earlier that I would be outside, trying to gauge how often monsters would show up. I figured getting a gauge would prove useful to determine if we'd need to stand guard or patrol seriously. Luckily, during the time I was out here I only noticed a handful of monsters come by, all of which I didn't have to engage with because I was able to hide behind the boulders I had pushed out here. There were a couple of spiders here and there which induced some anxiety within me, but nothing had happened so that was good. Endermen didn't show up either so they were worth ignoring altogether.

"It's good enough. We won't need to be on guard for too long at a time if necessary. As long as we hide behind these boulders we should be fine." I pointed down towards the cave floor where only a couple of zombies were walking. Their attention was nowhere on us, not that they'd be a threat otherwise.

"I see. That's good to hear."

Having had accomplished my objective, I decided to head back into our room to eat. I was starving as I had kept myself busy for almost the entire day and since Adelina had already prepared something for me, I figured why not eat now. As usual, Adelina followed closely behind and soon we were both sitting in front of each other near our campfire in our room, eating in silence for a little while.

It was still a little too early to sleep, so sleeping right after eating was not going to be of any benefit for me, so after having my meal, I took to trying to repair my iron pickaxe and iron ax as a means of passing time. There wasn't much I could do for them apart from sharpening and fixing their hilts, but it was good enough to keep me busy.

Adelina on the other hand was restless as always. She seemed to want to do something, but of course, there wasn't much she could do. Because of that, after a while, she took to watching me fix my tools, a result which brought some discomfort for me as I was not used to it. I tried to ignore it but after a while, it just felt so deafening of an experience that I decided to open my mouth for once on my own.

"Say, I figure we could talk for a little while, don't you think?" I wasn't much of a talker but fortunately for me, I still had things I wanted to know about in terms of my fellow partner and her circumstances.

"Oh. What about?" My question perked her attention immediately as if my question was something she was waiting to hear. She lifted her face and looked at mine, but I kept my gaze on my tools to maintain focus.

"You. To begin, what exactly is your connection to the Phantom Company anyway? Apart from being their target that is."

"Um... Well, that is sort of a long story, to be honest."

"In that case, give me the short version if possible. If you can't, then just talk."

"Alright." Adelina visually shifted around in front of me, seemingly trying to get comfortable. I paid no mind and kept working on my tools, ready to listen. "Well, even though I said that it's kind of a long story, I mostly meant that its one that has been lasting for a good while. Let's see... Well, before I talk about them, I should probably talk a little about myself and my history, right?" Her voice seemed kind of restrained to me, almost awkward. It seemed that the topic wasn't one she was used to explaining.

"Go ahead." My encouragement caused her to sigh, seemingly as preparation.

"My full name is Adelina Vitale and I'm part of what used to be the Vitale family, a small family made up entirely of people who had the same power as I do, the ability to heal. I originated from a very far but very remote community that was lead by my parents, a community that was in essence peaceful and happy. As far as I can remember, my parents and I were the center point of the community. We were respected wholly by everyone around us, a natural result because of our healing power. I remember very well the forest we lived in, the animals around us, and all of our neighbors. It was peaceful and seemingly perfect as there were rarely any problems. The worst that ever happened was the occasional injury that someone faced as part of their responsibilities, something that was seemingly unimportant since my family and I were always able to help out." Even though her introduction sounded happy, her face betrayed her tone. It was expected of course. She had only begun.

"My family was small, really small. It was only my father, my mother, and me. At the time, I didn't understand and ultimately never questioned why our family was so small, but that was a curiosity that was answered later in my life. Back then, my concerns were only about those around me, and if they were okay. Naturally, right from when I could, I was taught about my inherited power, a power that was often described to be very, very exceptional and rare, the ability to _fully heal any injury as long as the receiver wasn't dead_. Just like my parents, I was a walking goddess to those around me, often praised and never questioned. Because of my parents' kindness and humility, however, instead of being sheltered or separated because of my ability, I was instead embraced. I had regular friends and regular role models as any child and teenager could've had. Unfortunately, it was because of that humility... that I didn't truly understand my place in the world." Her voice grew colder.

"I had noticed at the time that while my parents had the same power as I did, their ability was not like mine. Perhaps it was a gift of life or whatever, but my ability to heal was truly exceptional even when compared against my parents. I healed faster than they could, I could heal for far longer than they were able to, recovered quicker, and was able to heal injuries that even my parents would struggle with. I remember being told over and over again by my father how I was seemingly able to heal as if it was no different from breathing for me. Apparently, for them, their ability to heal was a carefully learned and practiced art that was meticulous in use. My use was nothing short of prodigious in his eyes. Of course, since I was young, I didn't understand what he was trying to explain and only kept doing what I did." Her voice grew empty as she spoke.

"One day while I was out hanging out with one of my friends, a traveler seemed to have stumbled upon our little community. He arrived beaten and lacerated all over with blood pouring out of him like water. His state was severe and it was obvious that he needed help. Even with his injuries though, he maintained a calm face and only ever politely asked if someone could help him out, wearing a smile on his face as bright as a star. He seemed gentle and kind, and as so, I went over to help him as I would've helped anyone else. Unfortunately for him, I was stopped immediately by one of my neighbors, an action that perplexed me instantly. When I looked around, I realized that everyone in our community had shown up and surrounded the injured man, all of them wearing a serious and hesitant look on their faces. The scene was one that threw me off completely because of how sudden and conflicting it was. For me to be told that I couldn't help him, for everyone to stare and glare at an injured person with obvious fear, and for someone to have been denied the help that I was raised to believe to always provide confused me deeply. For the first time in my life, everyone and everything behaved the complete opposite of what I had always seen." For a moment, Adelina let some silence hang in the air, but after a little while, she sighed deeply and slowly, preparing herself to continue.

"I remember witnessing my parents arguing quietly to themselves as if they were trying to settle on a choice. Back then I didn't know what exactly the argument was about or why it was such a debate to them, but all I was able to understand was that my father was attempting to convince my mother that we should help the man before he dies, while on the other hand, my mother was arguing about letting him be and only giving him medical supplies at most. Considering the traveler's state though, giving him medical supplies was essentially equal to letting him die on his own. His injuries, without a doubt, could only be helped properly with our power. This went on for a little while, but within time, it seemed that my mother relented, although with great hesitation. Shortly after, I was instructed to help him until he was back in a formidable condition. As so, I did what I was told. I healed him fully with my ability as I had always done."

"The random traveler did not delay his gratitude to me, neither did he delay his surprise. It was obvious that while he was incredibly grateful for having had helped him, he was just as shocked for having had been blessed and lucky to have run into someone who could heal him efficiently with magic. He asked me questions along with his thanks, but since I was instructed to simply help him, I didn't respond with much and only acknowledged his appreciation. Once I was done, I returned to my parents before they made their way to speak to the traveler themselves. From a distance, their interaction with him seemed positive and polite, but with a closer look, it was more accurate that the politeness was more of a facade. My parents asked him questions as to where he came from, what he was doing, as to how he managed to have stumbled upon our community when we're so far away from civilization, and as to what he planned to do once he left. It was all nothing short of interrogation, an interrogation that caused visible discomfort amongst everyone around me."

"The traveler didn't seem to be fazed by any of it though. He simply kept a warm smile and kept answering the questions without hesitation. He explained that he was attempting to explore the forest for 'materials' and ended up being the target of rabid wolves along the way. He also explained that he was doing this because the materials were needed back at his home and that once he finished gathering them he would return immediately. Of course, this explanation of his was very vague and my parents didn't buy it. They tried to get more out of him but his answers were all the same regardless of how he worded them. It didn't make sense that he simply 'needed materials' and that he would have needed to venture so deep into a forest for them. He made no mention as to what they were, where he even came from, or why they were even needed. Take into mind that our village was small, very small in comparison to the incredibly large and deep forest we lived in. When I said that he was lucky for running into us, I truly meant that he was lucky. It was only luck that could've explained the coincidence."

"In the end, my parents opted for simply letting him go. Their interrogation wasn't leading anywhere and it only left uncertainty among everyone. For weeks afterward, there was a constant tension in the air as if everyone was wary of every second that passed. It numbed my innocent heart into stone as no one had made the effort to explain what the big deal was, and every time I asked I was only met with dismissal. There was a tangible fear that was within everyone and there was only silence as an explanation for me."

For a good moment, she remained silent and completely still. It was a sudden change that had caused me to stop meddling with my tools. "And then?" I instigated. My question caused her to lower her gaze towards the floor, disconnected from me, and my actions.

"After what felt like an eternity of strain, one night, I woke up to people screaming outside of my house. When I ran outside, everything was in flames and there was nothing but dead bodies littered everywhere. All of my neighbors and all of my friends were either cut, smashed, burned, or hanged. The only ones I recognized as being alive were my parents who, unfortunately, were being tortured in the open by a group of darkly clothed people. Everything was destroyed and from that moment, my mind and heart fell apart. I didn't know what to do or feel, and all I was able to hear was my father screaming at me to run away and never turn back. At first, I didn't react only because I was shocked, but then out of pure instinct, I turned around and began running. I ran and ran, trying to get away from the nightmare that suddenly plagued my world, but it was fruitless. In an instant, one of the dark figures had teleported in front of me and kneed me in the gut, forcing me into the ground. They tied me up and gagged me, fully restraining me before teleporting both of us back to my home in front of my parents. All I smelled was smoke and blood, and all I saw were flames and dead people. My parents were in front of me cut and bruised with tears running down their eyes, begging for the mercy of letting me go. Of course, just like my escape, their begging was fruitless."

"I didn't particularly understand anything. I didn't know exactly what was happening. But that was okay because one of the darkly clothed figures had made it part of their day to explain to me. I remember her very well because she was the first one of her kind that gave me a true impression. She had long and sleek black hair, deep violet eyes that managed to shine brighter than the fire around, pale skin that didn't insult her figure, a voice that soothed with a burning cold intent, and an overall figure that made her truly womanly. She walked over to me and caressed my face with her delicate hands, talking to me with a voice more motherly than my mother's. She explained very slowly to me that I was now going to be part of 'them', that I was going to work for them, that my life as it was beforehand was over, and that everyone I knew I should forget. She told me to scrap and burn my memories of everything I've ever known because, from that point forward, I would be learning the truth in who I was supposed to be, what my family was and what would happen to them."

"The very last thing I saw that day was my parents being taken away without explanation as to where they were going. The very last thing I had heard was the cold and sadistic welcome I had gotten from the woman. Before everything went black for me, all I had heard were the words ' _ **We hope to cooperate well with you**_ '. It was that point where my life as their target began." Her words were now beginning to heat up with anger. "Everything ever since is nothing short of a mess in my life. Right off the bat, I was ordered to be their healer for all of their clientele and their soldiers. For months and months without end, I was forced to heal without stop, rarely ever getting a proper break or a proper meal. At first, they didn't care and kept with treating me as a slave, but soon they began learning of how their treatment was backfiring on them. Due to the continuous use of my power, I managed to experience for the first time how straining the power itself can be and how much it can weaken when I am weak. After half a year or so of sleep deprivation and malnutrition, they noticed that my healing ability was beginning to wither and that I was slowly losing the ability to save those they tasked me with. At first, being the morons that they were, they only tried forcing me into trying harder, but luckily, after some time, one of them had grown a brain and suggested that instead I should be looked after properly for a change. Of course, they weren't fond of the idea at first, but since I was their precious healer, they tried it and proved the idea right. Once they had made the effort to give me proper breaks and decent meals, I was returning to par as they needed me."

"For the next year or so I was stuck as their little healer, always healing their clients and their soldiers and it drove me insane. Apart from giving me decent meals and proper breaks, they gave me nothing. I was almost always inside the same room providing my power. Throughout that whole year, my mental state was deteriorating and I couldn't do anything to help myself other than stare at a wall and entertain myself. The fact that the only colorful things I ever saw were the blood and exposed organs of the people I healed didn't help either. Even if I asked for some help in that regard, I was never provided any because I was essentially in arrest. They were very reluctant in doing anything that meant letting me leave my room."

"What was worse was that no one provided any information for me as to where my parents were or where I was. The only thing I ever learned was that my parents were taken away but nothing else. All I got was little tidbits of information as to where they might've been and what they might've done to them. Of course, in retrospect, keeping me in the dark was an advantage for them as they knew I only tried in hopes I could see them again, even if that hope was as empty as their souls. I was completely lonely and broken inside and for the longest time, I was suffering from depression. As a natural result, my power was weakening past the point where they could no longer neglect me."

"With my mental state deteriorating by the day, they once again realized that they needed to put more effort in comforting me, otherwise I was going to begin faltering more and more. This, at the time, proved even more concerning for them because they were suffering from injuries in their ranks far more than ever before. Remember how I had told you that their community is one that is hopelessly falling apart? This was the time where it truly began to do so. Day by day I would get more and more soldiers in my room who would need priority care and before long, many began dying simply because there were too many. If my power faltered any more, they knew it would cost them so they opted for a different caring system for me."

"As so, they transferred me over to 'caretakers', people who they assigned to keep strict watch over me and care for me carefully. At first, this system proved fine because I had more freedom to live as I was often transferred to homes in secluded lands. However, like everything else they ever provided, it was not something safe for me. The caretakers themselves were threatened very clearly and were told that if anything, _anything_ happened to me, they would be punished severely. Of course, if they only ever threatened my caretakers, then they would live in fear against me. Because of that, the Phantom Company made compromises with them. If I could heal well and be in top shape, my caretakers would be rewarded somehow, whether it be a better home, better supplies, better food, or whatever the Phantom Company could compensate with. Not only that, but the conditions of my safety were also lowered. They settled on the idea that as long as I could heal properly and was never killed, they passed."

"At first, many of my caretakers were executed or removed from their role because they failed to take care of me properly. They were either too strict or limiting with their rules or were too abusive in trying to force me to 'get better' so that they could get rewarded. However, as time went on, less and less were removed because, in the background of things, the Phantom Company had managed to secure more healers. Apparently, according to one of the caretakers who were responsible for me, the Phantom Company had been gathering up healers because their losses were amounting far too much even for me to handle efficiently. As so, they 'gathered' more healers to help and little by little their need for me scaled back. Unfortunately for them, none of them were as capable as I was, and so, I was still called for whenever anything grave needed to be fixed. However, apart from that, I was essentially growing free of my slavery."

"That, of course, was troubling for them. Since their needs for medical assistance were often met by the other healers they had rounded up, I was gaining freedom. Freedom for me meant a higher chance for me to escape. Not only that but at the time, there was a growing concern of betrayal among their ranks. Apparently, according to my caretaker at the time, there was a conspiracy going on about how there were caretakers who were undercover or soldiers who were double agents. They were wild stories and claims against the Phantom Company, but it seemed that in some way they were proved true. I can vouch for this too because my current caretaker at the time was one of those 'traitors' so to speak." Her last sentence caused her to chuckle, causing me to look her way.

"You were cared for by a 'traitor'?" I asked with interest.

"Precisely. Back when I was more integrated with the Phantom Company, there was one caretaker who continuously surprised the Phantom Company for being able to keep me in complete top shape without issue. Throughout the entire time that I was under his care, my power was the strongest it had ever been for them. This particular caretaker proved not only capable of treating me right and strengthening me but had also managed to get me to cooperate more willingly without issue. As so, this particular caretaker stayed my caretaker the longest and I was okay with that because he was a genuinely good person. He genuinely made sure I was cared for and because of his warm nature, I felt happy for once."

"So he's a traitor because?..." I trailed off.

"Because it was all an act to trick my captors. From the very beginning of his role, he told me who he was and what he was trying to do undercover. His name was Lazar Segreto and he was tasked with gaining information for his group against the Phantom Company. He didn't explain exactly who he was helping and why he confided in me so easily, but what sold me was that part of his objective was to release me along with any other captives within time. This, to my adolescent mind, seemed very, very provocative, and as so, I agreed to play along with his act and to do anything he needed me to for success. Perhaps in retrospect, I should've been more careful seeing how everyone around me at the time was incredibly fraudulent, but it was fine because he truly had meant that he would care for me and help me out."

"He fed me well and gave me a level of freedom that was dreamlike from every other captor I've ever had. I was able to go on moderate-sized trips with him and learn about things around the world because of his stories. I was able to go outside of our home on my own too, although with some rules since it was important that he was never questioned or seemed suspicious. Apart from my freedom, he also taught me many skills. He taught me how to hunt and cook food. He taught me how to create most of the essentials for survival such as tools and armor and how to get resources. He taught me how to fight both against people and monsters. It was because of him that I am proficient with a bow as he was an incredibly skilled archer himself. He essentially showed me almost everything that I know to this day, all as preparation for the day when I would escape and be on my own."

"Of course, this was all possible because of the reduced need for me in the Phantom Company. Since I was not needed as much, it resulted in reduced surveillance against me and Lazar. To be quite honest, in a way, I hoped that Lazar and I could've been together for far longer, but of course, it all had to come to an end someday. After all, his primary objective wasn't to make friends with me. After a year and a half under his care, it seemed that all the preparations in his end were met. One day, shortly after one of the regular checkups for me was finished, Lazar suddenly instructed me to leave our home and to head towards a specific landmark kilometers away from our house. His explanation was quick as he wanted to give me as much time as possible for my escape, and as so, I left him abruptly that day. All I remember that day was his kind smile and his kind wave as I began running away, all before I escaped from the Phantom Company."

"Now, I'm sure it's obvious, but my escape from the Phantom Company wasn't a true or complete escape. In the end, I was only an adolescent and they are a fully functional militia. Within months, I was tracked down and captured. Fortunately for me though, I was no longer as afraid of them, mostly because of all of the things I was taught by Lazar. Not only that, but their regulations for me had not changed. Over and over again, they placed me with different caretakers, all of which were simply unable to restrain me effectively enough for me not to escape. Anything that would've worked would have gotten them punished by the Phantom Company themselves, and within time, my presence became a source of fear. I was known to be the rat that constantly left her cage, and as so, all of my caretakers since then would fear that I could get them killed at any second. They would relent to me in hopes that I could stay and behave, but I had no intention of doing so. After all, apart from Lazar, all of the caretakers who were responsible for me were all people who, if they had the clearance, would have abused or used me as they may have wished. They could beg all they want, but all of them were degenerates who would've taken advantage of the 'helpless' woman in their grasp."

"Frankly, I know that I'm incredibly lucky for the Phantom Company to not want to hurt me. It is that simple fact that gives me a chance to oppose them. However, ever since I could escape their grasp, I have yet to _truly_ escape them. Ever since it has been the same cycle over and over again. They would find me, catch me, place me to a caretaker, only for me to escape and be on the run again, with you currently being an exception that is." At once, she began stretching and sighed as a result. "Well, with all of that being said... I guess that is the end of my story... for now anyway. There is quite a bit more I could tell you but I'd rather not overwhelm you or myself."

"I see... Well..." I stood up suddenly and began making my way over to my backpack that was laying in the corner of our room. "... That was quite a story indeed." I then began laying my sharpened tools near my bag, letting them fall and clink with the stone-cold ground. "At least you had met someone who made your life easier along the way huh? Considering most of your story is tragic that is." I turned around and faced Adelina who was looking intently at me. "Say, I could've sworn you had told me back at the lake that all of your previous caretakers were foul and horrible people?" I asked with interest.

My question prompted surprise from her at first, but afterward, she followed up with a wry smile. "Yeah, I did say that. I realize now that I had lied to you back then, but it was only because you had made me emotional. Perhaps the more precise statement I should've made was that you're my first caretaker who has no strings attached to anything but me. Lazar was amazing and I deeply respect him, but in the end, it was all business as part of his work. You're the first caretaker who I've gotten to truly look in the eye without anything particular in the way." She stood up and made her way to me and stood right in front of me. "Again, I'm sorry for the inconsistency. However, I meant what I've just told you." She bowed her head along with her apology.

"I wasn't accusing you of anything. I just wanted to make sure what the real detail was." I proceeded to get a hold of one of her shoulders and gestured her to raise her face back up to mine. "There's nothing more to it than that."

Adelina smiled at me with warmth before she nodded in acknowledgment. "I understand." She then walked back near our campfire that was lit up in the middle of the room and sat back down. "Say, since we still have time to kill, how about a story of your own?"

"A story of my own?" I asked with a little recoil.

"Yes. A story of your own. Anything about your past and whatnot." She smiled again.

"I see..." I stared at her intently because I didn't know how to respond to her. Frankly, I wasn't fond of talking about myself, but that wasn't an excuse to cop-out. She had talked about herself and now she wanted me to return something equal. Still, I was not fond of the query. "Unfortunately, you already know as much as I do." As anyone could've expected, my response was not believed.

"Aw, come on. I know that isn't true."

"Unfortunately, it is. I'm just someone who has survived as long as he has separated from civilization for the longest time. There is nothing more than just that."

"You know that doesn't make any sense. There is no way your history is that small and simple."

"It is. Whether you believe me or not is none of my concern. If I had more to tell you, I would. But I don't." My answer caused her frustration, but unlike before, she didn't express it as much.

"Fine... I'll let you be. I just hope that you know that this isn't fair."

"I never said it was." I looked at my watch and noticed that it was only 6:34 PM. It was still too early to sleep so there was still time to kill. When I looked away from my watch, I met Adelina's curious but annoyed gaze. At first, my instinct was to look away, but her displeasure was still solid enough that I felt it stabbing my presence. In the end, I met her gaze again and sighed as a result. "Okay... Look, when I said that you know all I know, I meant it. I genuinely don't know more about myself. Frankly, the only reason why I keep dismissing you is that I rather not frustrate myself trying to think of what I should say." My surrender changed Adelina's look to one filled with confusion mixed with sorrow. It was as if she felt bad for me.

"What? That's not possible is it?"

"It is. I'm just a man who's lived as far as he can remember. Apart from that, there is only emptiness and silence in my head."

"That's not normal."

"I know. But there is not much I can do other than to accept it. It never bothered me before, mostly because there was never anyone who could've asked. Now that there is that certain someone, I only have silence to respond with. As I said, it does not concern me whether you believe me or not only because I cannot change my reality of it. You can ask as much as you want, my answer will always be the same."

"It must be painful not having a single bit of internal identity like that."

"It doesn't. In the end, my past has little relevance as to what is happening now." My empty conviction seemed to have caused Adelina sadness, but as I already said, there is nothing more to it than what I've said. "Now, if you don't mind, I'll be outside standing guard. If you'd like, you can stay here and sleep or relax." I wielded my sword and then made my way out of our room, ignoring Adelina's gaze in the process.

_It doesn't hurt. It never did. It never will, because I can't be hurt by something that doesn't exist anywhere._

* * *

"Will you be alright out here?" It was now nearing 9:00 PM, meaning that now it was a good time for at least one of us to go to sleep. As so, I was standing outside keeping guard of our room while Adelina was asking if perhaps I should rest first. "You've done a lot more manual labor today compared to me. Maybe it's better if I stand guard first?"

"I'm fine. I'd rather you rest up first. I'll switch with you when I'm tired."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Now go." Without any more comments, she made her way back into our room and I stayed where I was. It was true that I had done more manual labor than her, and as a result, I was probably more tired than she was. Not only that but with the lack of monsters and their attention, we didn't need anyone to stand guard either. However, because of how abruptly I left her before, I didn't want to go to sleep in there near her. I created tension and I didn't want to be asked anything else while I was in there. Plus, I doubt I would be able to sleep as I am now anyway, so until I'm truly exhausted, I'll stay put.

Of course, Adelina wasn't keen on my choice, but it seemed that she didn't have the desire to argue with me, which was good for me. That meant that we didn't have to talk any more than necessary. Instead, I would have the peace out here completely by myself without interruptions. Or at least, that is what would've happened.

Frankly, I found myself annoyed and conflicted with the way I called off our previous conversation. I didn't understand what the big deal was within me and as so, I figured some time by myself would help me sort myself out. But then the issue was: what was there to figure out?

It was true that I couldn't relay anything else other than what I had said, so what is there to contemplate over? Sure, perhaps it was unfair for her, but there is nothing that I could do about it. There's nothing I could say about myself. Was I even bothered by this fact to begin with? Or is it something else? Logically speaking, there is nothing that should be making me feel the way I was so what was the problem then? It feels foolish to even have a reaction like this considering the outcome was one I had expected from the beginning. I knew the moment I asked her to talk about herself that it would, at some point, lead to some curiosity about myself, so what is this conflicting surprise in me all about? What even is the point of thinking about this anyway? My original intent was to gather more information about the Phantom Company. Why am I so concerned about our reactions to one another? They're irrelevant against my main objective.

This was infuriating me. It was an endless cycle where only questions were formed but no answers were given. I don't how long I had spent outside pondering to myself about such inconsequential ideas, but after a while, I found my eyelids pulling their weight down my eyes. By the time their weight became unbearable, it was almost two in the morning. Still, even with my exhaustion plaguing my body, I didn't want to go back in there. Something within me was making me hesitant about doing so, even though the action itself is only natural and easy to do.

Instead, I stayed outside, and before I knew it was nearing three in the morning. I had made a complete mess of myself and our plans because now I was going to be sleep deprived into the ground by the time we would have to leave this cave. I was so hung up with my internal frustrations I hadn't even realized how cold I felt and how numb my hands were as a result. I didn't understand what was making me feel this way. I wanted to understand but I couldn't. What was the big deal? There is no big deal. I was worrying over such a small and senseless detail. But why?

"Fuck me..." In the end, those two words were the only conclusion that I derived from all of the meaningless thinking I had done. It was shameful for me. At the very least it would've helped if I had even the tiniest form of understanding, but no. Here I was, confused as all hell.

I don't know at what time I had managed to fall asleep since I essentially knocked out completely from fatigue, but when I woke up, I woke up to an incredibly unfamiliar scenario. At first, I wasn't sure as to what was happening exactly since my eyes were still heavy and my inertia had me numb, but from what I was able to perceive, I felt both warm but heavy, as if something was wearing me down. Again, because of my inertia, at first, I wasn't able to pay great attention as to why that was the case, but after a couple of minutes of trying to wake up, I finally realized what I had woken up to.

It seems that at some point I had sat down on the floor with my back against the wall, and since I was reclined on the wall as a result, I noticed that someone had taken the liberty lay near me, or should I say, lay on me and got themselves comfortable. My eyes were opened to the sight of white hair scattered down ontop on my right shoulder and torso, all originating from the head of the girl who had craned her head on top of my shoulder and into my neck. She was lying into me with her arms stretching and embracing my entire torso from my back and my chest. Her legs were spread outwards, although one of her legs had taken to intertwining a little with one of my own.

In other words, I found Adelina sleeping on me.

Almost immediately I found myself completely stiff and frozen in place as I had no clue as to how to react. I was not used to a scenario like this at all and considering who is involved, I expected something like this to happen even less. For a couple of minutes, I stayed completely still, trying to figure out as to how I could get myself out of this situation in a manner that wouldn't wake her up, but my attempts at trying to make such a plan became futile as Adelina herself began to stir and wake up.

Very slowly but gently she began to move her arms off of me and began to lift herself, all while her face was only a couple of centimeters away from mine. Her hair was covering most of her face and was slightly ruffled, but soon afterward she began raking it with her hands to clear her vision. After a minute of her waiting to come to her senses, she then looked at me in the eyes with a sleepy look on her face, a look that seemed far too innocent in comparison to the shock she had given me.

"You're sensitive when you sleep. I barely just started and you already woke up."

"Start what exactly?"

"Making sure you didn't die cold. I noticed that you never went over to switch with me and when I came to check on you, you were knocked out and your body was colder than ice itself."

"And this was your solution?"

"Without waking you up? Yes."

"I see." Since I was too tired to question any more, I simply reclined back into the wall and closed my eyes again. Adelina did the same, only that this time she wasn't on me and was to herself instead.

"I understand, you know?" Adelina suddenly said to me, causing me to open my eyes and look at her. She was looking right at me with a concerned look, a picture that brought me anxiety again.

"Understand what?"

"I understand that perhaps you're very reluctant and discomforted when it comes to confidentiality. You seem to have a difficult time accustoming yourself to me even on a basic level. I don't know anything about you, neither have I yet to truly understand you. However, even then, I just want you to know that I understand. Frankly, everything about you so far is incredibly confusing and mysterious, and I can't help but wonder why you seem so disconnected from the world. You don't talk about yourself, you don't express any of your internal and personal concerns, and neither do you allow yourself to wonder anything of it. I know that we haven't been around each other for long, but I can't help but worry when you seem so... empty."

"You're worrying far more than you should. It isn't as complicated as that."

"Are you sure? So far everything about you is nothing but complicated, if not then just simply confusing."

"Well, what were you expecting from me? You seem to desire something that I cannot provide. Not when there isn't anything to provide or when we've barely been around each other."

"I'm just curious about you. That's all. It's just that your responses thus far have been unusually vague and obscure to the point where I can't help but wonder. I guess it is in my nature to wonder about your entire being considering what I was raised to do."

"I see..." I trailed off simply because I had nothing better to say. There wasn't much that there was to say.

"Does it bother you to interact with me like this?"

"I can't say so in particular, but I'd be lying if I told you that it didn't."

"Should I be more careful then?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because it's a waste of energy. Just do and ask whatever you want and I'll simply respond or react as best as I can. Apart from that, I don't need you being self-restrictive."

"I see..." She trailed off herself. "Say..." She began again. "... Do you really have no good memory of your life? Is your memory really that empty?"

"Yes. I don't know why. I don't know how it is possible. I cannot recall anything other than me just living and building my village. It doesn't matter how much I think about it, in the end, all I think of is emptiness." _I lied_.

"Are you genuinely not bothered by that fact?"

"It makes no difference whether it does or if it doesn't." _It does._

_"_ But do you ever wonder if it does matter?"

"No." _Always_.

"Does it not bring you pain?"

"No." _I'm plagued by it_. "Frankly, when compared to your history, it brings me comfort that I don't know anything. At the very least, I'm void of a painful past or whatever." _That was also a lie_.

"I see. Well, if you say so." All of a sudden, as if it was natural, Adelina returned to laying on me and embraced me as she had when I had first woken up. As a result, I stiffened up again and froze in place.

"Why are you doing _this_ again?" I asked with recoil in my voice.

"Because you're still cold and I can tell that you're not going to do anything about it. While I may not know you well, I _can_ say that you're inconveniently stubborn."

"If that is your concern then I'll just go back inside with you near our campfire. You don't have to do this for such a reason."

"No. Consider this also as compensation for me."

"Compensation?"

"Yes, for not being able to give me your true story. It doesn't bother me that you're hiding your past for me, but since you don't want to talk, I'll do this to satisfy myself." _Wait, what? She can tell?_

"That makes no sense whatsoever."

"Oh well." In the end, she only embraced me even more before she closed her eyes and put herself to sleep. It seemed that she truly did not care about how this made me feel.

At first, I couldn't fall asleep because of the pressure I felt, but since I was exhausted, it was only a matter of minutes before I caved into her forced warmth. I was reluctant the whole time, but in the end, she got what she wanted from me.

_'This isn't anything. Don't make it anything._ '

Those words were the only words that kept ringing within my dreams.


	9. A Vivacious Welcome Home

At first, after waking up, I was startled by the fact that I felt particularly heavy. I couldn't move and for a couple of seconds, I couldn't even feel my right arm. However, it didn't take me long to realize why everything was so. When my senses were returning up to par, I looked down and to my right where I saw the already mentally iconic white hair that had pierced into my life. Adelina was completely out, sleeping peacefully without a seeming care in her world. Surely my chest wasn't the most comfortable place in the world, but her placid look could convince otherwise.

I looked over at my watch and took notice that it was nearing noon. It was a decent time to wake up to, although considering my plans, it was not the best time. Waking up at this time meant that we would have to make our way home without too many stops, otherwise we would risk running into dawn on the way. Well, it wasn't too big of a deal that it was this way. My plans could always be executed later and frankly, considering the strain on my neck and back, it is of higher priority for me to get back home where I could rest on a soft bed.

"Hey..." I began to shake my right arm subtlety, trying to stir a reaction from Adelina, but it didn't seem to be enough. She was still asleep with no sign of being stimulated at all. "Oi... Wake up..." I shook my arm with a little more force resulting in Adelina stirring only a little bit, seemingly trying to get comfortable after my movement. She still wasn't awake. "Come on... Time to wake up..." I shook my arm a little more strongly, causing her body to begin bobbing on top of my chest. Finally, she seemed to have woken up a little as she began to groan.

"Hmm?... What?..." She began. Her voice was weak and soft, nothing that wasn't expected. She moved around again, trying to get herself back in the place where she originally was, but I stopped her from doing so.

"Get up... It's time to wake up." I began to lift her slowly, causing her to groan again with displeasure. She then opened her eyes and looked at me with a slightly annoyed look on her face.

"Come on... Let me sleep a little more..." She begged softly.

"No. It's about to be noon. If we want to make it back home without a problem, we're going to need to get moving now." Now that she was off of me, I took the opportunity to begin standing up myself. Adelina, now having had her sleeping spot taken away, followed my movements as she tried to wake herself up fully. She began moaning and stretching behind me, a noise that caused me to flinch for some reason. Regardless, I made my way into our room and picked up our things so that we could get going.

After returning her things to her, we both suited ourselves up in our armor again and wielded our weapons. By the time we began moving out, we were both reasonably awake.

* * *

"This brand... apart from being a mark, is there any other significance to it?" As we were eating our 'breakfast' for the day, I decided to uncover my left arm, showcasing the long and dark snake-like brand that wrapped and spread itself throughout my entire arm's length and hand. Its tail began from my shoulder and coiled down my arm up until its head reached inside my palm where it displayed an open mouth and protruding fangs. The body of the snake itself was very scaly and was patterned in a mixture of deep black and purple fire, a detail that proved to be somewhat enchanting. The purple aspect of the fire, when displayed in light, seemed to shine lightly as if the fire itself was alive and burning on my skin. This element was accentuated even further by the deep matte darkness that resided elsewhere in the snake. For a 'brand', the mark was astonishingly intricate in design, so naturally, it perked my curiosity for its significance and nature.

Contrary to my particular interest, Adelina was mostly uninterested as she only took a light glance at my arm before returning her attention to her meal. "As far as I know, it is as you said. It's a brand meant to signify your 'cooperation' with the Phantom Company. At most, it is used to identify your allegiance with them and nothing more. Although..." She looked at my arm again, only this time she gave a stern look before looking away. "... I would be lying if I told you that your brand is nothing special. By the looks of it, yours is a little special."

"How so?"

"That fiery design. I haven't seen that particular pattern before. Unless my memory is serving me wrong, the Phantom Company's brands are all deep black snakes that coil around somewhere on a person's body."

"I see. Do you have one of these then? Since you 'cooperate' with them and all?" My eyes naturally wandered and analyzed the portions of her body where her skin was exposed. As far as I could see, there was nothing anywhere where a deep black figure could be seen. Given Adelina's white and delicate skin, surely a mark of such nature would've been conspicuous to the naked eye.

"No... For whatever reason, they never went out of their way to mark me..." She took notice of my intent gaze on her body, causing her to shuffle around a little, a reaction that prompted me to stop doing so.

"I figured... What do you think my brand means then? Since it's special and all?"

"I can't say. I'm not well versed in their symbols and insignia. Perhaps you've perked some sort of particular attention from them?"

"Maybe..." Suddenly, my mind flashed a picture of the black-haired woman and her feline purple eyes. Almost instantly the memory of her interaction with me flooded my mind. "The woman with jet black hair. When I met her, she seemed to be impressed somewhat by my nature or something. Maybe there's something to grasp there?"

"Jet-black hair? Are referring to Valkyrie?"

" _Valkyrie_?"

"Yes, _Valkyrie_. You mentioned jet black hair, right? Long black hair? Purples eyes? Cat eyes? Slim? Usually wears jet black clothing, like some sort of bodysuit? White, pale skin? If so, her na- err, her codename is Valkyrie. Or at least, that's what I've heard her being called."

"Yeah... her. Unless there are more like her, then yeah, she's the one I'm talking about."

"She was _impressed_ by you? How so?"

"I'm not sure. It was something along the lines in that I was not 'affected' by her or so."

"You weren't affected? By her hypnosis?" Adelina displayed a surprise similar to what Valkyrie had shown in my memory.

"Hypnosis? Is that what she was trying on me?"

"I assume so. Were her eyes shining? Did she ask you anything about how you felt about her or how you viewed her?"

"It was all as exactly as you say."

"Then yeah, she had tried to hypnotize you. Although... you said that you weren't affected. That's quite new to hear."

"Is it? What type of hypnosis are we talking about here?"

"The very strong kind. The kind that can get anyone to do anything she wants as long as she's there to tell you. The kind that I've seen no one else resist apart from you."

"Oh... I see. And this woman... _Valkyrie..._ I assume that because of her ability, she's pretty strong or important?"

"Her hypnosis one is of the reasons why she's particularly feared, even among the Phantom Company. She, in essence, can make anyone a slave to her words. When I say slave, I am referring to a literal slave. Anyone who gets caught with her hypnosis renders their own will nonexistent, becoming only what she says you'll be. Her hypnosis is so strong that she's capable of rewriting her victim's memories into anything she wants. Well, except for you of course."

"Interesting... And someone like her is in charge of you?"

"Yes. Seeing as how I am of top priority for the Phantom Company, it's only natural they'd put one of their best watchdogs on me. Although, they don't actively use her against me. They won't let themselves, mostly because the higherups are afraid that any interference with my mind might screw up my healing ability. After all, even the Phantom Company themselves are aware of how chaotic and sadistic she can be, even to her own."

"She's someone who can hurt her own?"

"Precisely. With power like her's, it's only natural that she'd take full advantage of it. I'm not sure how exactly they keep her in check though. You'd think that since she can control most people, she'd be able to work anything in her favor, but it seems that perhaps that is not the case. She follows orders until the end, regardless of how much indignation she may have for them."

"What type of purposes do they use her hypnosis for?"

"Interrogation and intelligence. Whenever the Phantom Company gets its hands on someone with information they want, they bring them to her for easy breaking into their minds. If not that, then she monopolizes a person's will and uses them as a rat or double agent for an enemy."

"You seem to know a lot about her and her purposes. Didn't you say that the Phantom Company rarely clued you in on their nature? How do you know this much?"

"Simple. I've witnessed it. She broke all of my captors back when I was in their hands for interrogation, just in case they weren't being truthful. To be more precise, they used her on my captors that proved to be useless or inadequate for them. As powerful as Valkyrie is, they won't let her handle everything on her own, only because they would become very paranoid of what she might do if they don't keep tabs on her every time she does something. Believe it or not, they do manage to control who she is allowed to hypnotize and who she can't. I'm not sure how they'd pull something like that off but they do."

"I see."

"Well, regardless, you have managed to pique the interest of a very particular person. I'm sure this goes without saying but try your best not to anger her too much, or else you'll find out stronger reasons as to why she's so powerful."

"Don't worry, I already have gotten a little taste of it. It isn't anything I can't recover from, but it isn't something I want to put up with either. Still, this just adds even more complication to the situation. If I _have_ managed to get her eyes on me, then I'm not sure how much freedom I'm going to have from this point forward, especially when regarding the job I've been tasked with."

"Well, at least that's all right? At the very least you're on neutral terms. Most who come across her are usually on bad terms right off."

"Err... Well..." Instantaneously my mind began running flashbacks of the moments in which I had killed some of the Phantom Company's soldiers back when they had invaded. Afterward, Valkyrie took place once again. ' _..._ _in our pursuit for her, you have eliminated a whole squadron of mine, and that, I cannot let slide. Now, usually, for interfering, I would have you executed simply because you'd be a waste of time for me, but considering your achievement, I instead have another idea..._ '.

"Hmm?"

"I can't say that Valkyrie and I are on neutral grounds. Back then, when I was trying to figure out a plan against her invasion, I ended killing some of her soldiers. As a result, she didn't seem too happy about that, and while she had given me an opportunity to be spared, I can't say that I wasn't coerced into agreeing to her suggestion."

"Ahh... nevermind then. Right now, you are in the same place as all before you. As long as she's got a grip on you somewhere, you have no power against her. Then again, if you hadn't done what you did, you would've just been killed anyways."

"I see..." _Valkyrie huh?... Well, this is getting worse by the day. I'm seriously running out of holes I could crawl away from. Who knew this would have been my life at some point? How did I manage to go from chopping wood and building homes to being under the eye of a distant but powerful paramilitary militia?_

"Are you worried?..."

"Huh?"

"Your face... it's more tense than usual. Are you worried about Valkyrie now?"

"Augh..." With a sigh, I looked at Adelina who had stopped everything she was doing just to look at me. "Not really. It's just that every time I ask you something, all I learn is that I got another shackle to my neck." _Not only that but every time I learn something new, it just bemuses me at how you manage to have the hope to get away from them. To oppose a group like the Phantom Company requires far more than just another person's help. If anything, you have been nothing but lucky in that they haven't gotten rid of you or that they can't just throw you in a ditch. You simply cannot escape them with so little manpower. Since that is the case, then how the hell do you plan to act in the future? There is no way I'll be able to help you since my ties to them are far more severe than yours. You can run all you want, but if I lift my finger against them, they'll pulverize my soul. At most, I imagine it'll be a repeat of your time with Salazar. You will escape for who knows how long, and I'll disappear off the face of this world. I can only hope that Salazar's fate wasn't cruel, but I can already tell that is just wishful thinking._

"Ah, right... I forgot that your situation is not as forgiving as mine. I'm sor-" Her face was beginning to collapse. _Oh no, you don't._

"No, don't bother. I don't want to go through this conversation again. We are in this situation together whether we like it or not. All we got to do is figure out how to move forward." _If we can..._

"Right... Yeah, right." Luckily, her spirit didn't seem to waver from the negativity. With a slight clap of her hands, she put up a grin, trying to put away the bad thoughts.

"We have the time to think this through later, so let's just finish eating here and make our way back home."

* * *

"There it is." In the distance, we were now able to see the monumental walls that surrounded my village. Due to their height, there were casting a gigantic shadow to the left, opposite of where the sun was beginning to set. Given that it was nearing six in the evening, we had just barely made it with daylight still out, although it was only a matter of an hour or so before the darkness of night takes its place.

"I forgot to ask you before, but why did you build the walls so _high_?" Adelina worded her question behind me with a hint of astonishment to her voice. Without looking, I could tell that she must've had a curious look on her face.

"I didn't intend to at first. They were meant to be tall enough so that spiders would not think to climb them, especially since I wasn't planning on making a roof from them. Not only that but to be a little creative, I came up with the idea that I would use the gigantic tree inside the area as the landmark. Unfortunately, the spiders that came around didn't care about my idea. Over and over again they would climb and wander into the village, and every time they did, I would make the walls a little bigger. This repeated multiple times until I built the wall so high that even they would not think to climb it. Before I knew it, the walls were towering above the tree itself. They are so damned tall that you begin freezing your ass off staying up there too long. Frankly, I'm glad that the walls achieve their purpose now, although I can't help but have paranoia now. I just have this stress that _maybe,_ at _some_ point, there's going to be a spider that grows some nerves out of its ass and climbs over the walls anyway, defeating me again and forcing me to make them taller. At this point, if it happens again, I'm just going to murder every spider I see because clearly, they _don't_ understand the amount of work needed to make a wall so fuck-off big. I'd turn insane if I spend any more manual labor tending to it. Even _creepers_ have managed to respect those walls better and their job is to _fuck everything up_." _Somehow my simple explanation became a light rant along the way_.

While my explanation resonated as a rant to me, it seemed that to Adelina, my commentary came across more so humorous instead as I heard her stifling some giggles behind me. When I turned to face her, she had one of her hands covering her mouth, and when she noticed me, she began to show a slight red tint on her cheeks. Regardless, she continued giggling for a couple of seconds before calming herself down. By then, I had already faced back towards the direction of my village, putting the thought aside.

"I thought that perhaps you had a more practical reason for the walls. I could've never imagined that they exist only because of a personal vendetta with one particular monster." She bantered as she followed closely behind.

"Me too."

After that little exchange, we covered the remaining distance to the village. Within minutes, we were only a couple of meters away and were gazing towards the big heavy gates that guarded the only entrance to my home.

"Ah, finally. We made it home. The trip made me exhausted. I can't wait to rest on a bed." Adelina said as she began stretching behind me.

"Yeah, same here. A cold cave isn't the most comfor-" Suddenly, as I was about to open the gate, I felt my nerves shoot and my vision pulsed a yellow line outward. Within seconds, the outgoing line highlighted multiple figures inside, all of which were seemingly stationed and walking around inside the village. By the looks of their placement, it seemed that they were aware of our presence as they were all suddenly moving to the door and standing at attention in front of it. According to their figures, they were all ready to attack as they had their arms and weapons drawn out. It seemed like an ambush ready to happen.

_What the hell? Is that the Phantom Company in there? Why the hell are they ready for combat?! Who are they expecting through this damned gate? Don't tell me they dragged my home into their schemes too!_

As I kept processing the figures in front of me, I stopped in place and wielded my sword. I then turned around and motioned with one hand for Adelina to stop moving and to be silent. Without hesitation, she wielded her bow and readied an arrow, nodding her head to show her understanding of my silent commands.

" _What's going on?_ " She whispered very quietly, trying to gauge my sudden reaction.

" _There are people inside. A lot of them. They're all ready to fight. Be careful. Be ready if anything happens._ " I whispered back. She nodded again and then stayed quiet, although she had a confused look on her face. She was probably wondering how I could tell there were people inside, but that's something I can answer later.

Unless my vision was failing me, I was able to spot up to five different swordsmen on the floor directly in front of the gate. Apart from those five, there were also three archers behind them, all of which were standing on top of the roofs of the houses nearby. Perhaps the swordsmen by themselves would have been fine, but the archers would complicate things. I cannot handle getting shot at, especially not by them. I already learned the hard way how accurate these fuckers are. I don't need another hole in my body again.

I don't know what the hell was going to happen once we go inside, but I needed to make sure that Adelina would not get hurt. _They wouldn't hurt her right? But if so, then what the hell are they thinking?_

_"Five swords directly in front. Three archers on the roofs to the back. I don't know what is going on, but I need you to take care of the archers at the back as soon as things go wrong, okay? I can handle the swordsmen on my own._ "

" _Okay, but are we just going to walk in there or what? And are you sure you'll be fine? I can handle sword-fighting myself too._ "

" _We'll have to walk in there regardless, so just be ready. And yeah, I'll be fine. Just make sure you're okay above all? Alright? I'm being serious here._ " I could tell that Adelina was not particularly fond of my plan seeing as to how much danger I would be risking against myself, but I simply need to bear it all for her. I cannot risk whatever bullshit may happen to her during the possible event.

" _Okay, okay. I'll listen._ " She nodded again, trying to hide her dissent.

" _Alright, we're going to walk in. Like I said, as soon as things seem to go wrong, you do what you do best._ " While paying very close attention to the figures, I began to open the gate very slowly. I had no clue as to whether or not they were antagonizing us directly, so just to be safe, I didn't want to initiate a fight through impression than actual circumstance.

As I pushed the gate opened, the bright glow from all of the torches inside began to light up my vision, slightly blinding me at first. I kept a very strong grip on the hilt of my iron sword and kept my mind as clear as possible, trying to process every second that passed. As the gate began to clear itself from our sight, I noticed the figures in front of us had begun to shift, all of them ready with a combat stance. They were bracing for us as we were for them. Once the gate was fully open, I was able to make direct visual with the opposition.

As I had expected, they were all part of the Phantom Company as everyone was wearing their signature dark cloaks and masks, confusing me as to why the hell they were being hostile. Slowly, as I watched them, I began to walk forward, entering my village with Adelina following close behind. Unfortunately, for whatever reason it may have been, they were not relaxing or standing down from alert. Perhaps they were waiting for us to stand down, but I wasn't going to risk it. Not with them of all people.

Very quickly my body was flowing with adrenaline, heightening my awareness of every little detail around. My heartbeat had grown stronger and faster, beating like thunder within my chest. My instincts were also scraping sky high as my vision was beginning to pulse red. In sync with my heartbeat, there were yellow pulses continuously moving outward in my vision, constantly highlighting the figures in front of me. Within the seconds that I moved forward, I began to hear the heartbeats of everyone around, dampening my ears. My hearing then became nothing but a tense symphony of hearts thumping madly with one another.

The seconds were slow to everyone around with no one reacting strongly in any way. Adelina and I kept walking forward, passing the gate before it began to swing itself closed. The Phantom Company themselves were standing still, so still that I could've mistaken them for illusions. Of course, they weren't, even if I wished for them to be.

I was able to hear the loud creaking of the gate as it moved back to its primary state, screeching so loudly to me as my senses were rocketing. The sound was grating my eardrums, slightly stunning me as a result. But then, before I was able to perceive it, it happened.

**The gate blasted shut**.

Instantly, one of the swordsmen dashed for me and I dashed for him. Within an instant, we both crossed the tens of meters worth of distance between us and clashed our swords together, bringing everyone's attention to the sudden development. Without delay, I withdrew my sword and dashed backward. As a result, I baited my current attacker as he lunged for me. With a flick, I parried his sword down into the ground and then grabbed his gripping hand and twisted it, forcing a strong contortion throughout his arm before he helplessly let go of his sword as a result. Once he let go, I then battered his head down with the hilt of my sword, sending him straight into the ground face first with a fall strong enough that it kicked up dust to my legs.

Without a break, my instincts shot up and I felt a shiver on my back, prompting me to turn around where I perceived another swordsman beginning to swing his sword down towards me. This was a very sudden attack, one very alike to how endermen try to attack, and as so, just like my fights against endermen, my movement and instincts proved to be faster. Before he even had swung his sword halfway, I bolted right towards him and kneed him right into his stomach using enough force that he tumbled backward before falling into one of his knees as a reaction. Next, I executed a simple but strong front kick that connected with his face, sending him backward and falling on the floor unconscious.

Returning my attention to the front, I was met with multiple arrows coming right for me, all of which I dodged by dashing to my left very suddenly. I turned my concern to the archers at the back who were all readying their next volley of arrows, but before I could've acted out a reaction, one of them was hit straight in the chest with an arrow with so much force that he fell off the roof. Not even a second later, I noticed a second archer get hit right in the same place in their chest, resulting in the exact fate of his comrade. The third one managed to get his arrow off, and it was making its way to me, but before I dashed away, the arrow was intercepted. At first, I couldn't tell what had done so, but with closer inspection, I noticed quickly that the arrow was intercepted with _another_ arrow.

The archer, noticing the interception, turned to Adelina who had moved to my far right, but before I could see anything else happen, two of the three remaining swordsmen had rushed me at the same time. One approached me from the front while the other one triggered my instincts to my back. The one in front committed to a horizontal swing while the one behind me took to a vertical one, sealing me out of dodging in my immediate space. To save me from their coordinated attack, I dashed strongly to my right, noticing that I had only dodged the horizontal swing. The other attacker had baited me and without a wait he lunged for me, catching me in an unready state. Out of pure luck, he missed his lunged as he only lunged quickly, but not accurately. As a result, his lunge missed towards my left with his arm passing by me.

Once I regained my footing, I turned to my left and faced my immediate attacker who was in the process of regaining his posture. His lunge had far too much power which costed him with a slow recovery, a recovery that I took advantage of. Since he was in the middle of retracting his sword from his lunge, his entire front was exposed to me, and as so, I performed a hook kick that nailed him right in the chin, breaking off the lower part of his mask. With the newfound force having had been placed on his face, he opted to let go of his weapon and using his hands to cup his damaged mouth, a reaction that showed his sudden disability to continue fighting. Without mercy, even though he was already incapacitated, I dashed to him and grabbed him by his neck, pushing him backward and slamming him straight into the ground, knocking him out without any resistance.

His friend tried to take advantage of the opening since I had given all my attention to this assistant, but I was ready for him regardless of how open I had looked. When I faced him, he was already in front of me and had swung his sword at me. Since I was ready, I had managed to parry his swing away, but he wasn't weak, and he was also more intelligent. He hadn't had used too much force, granting him a quick recovery unlike his previous comrade, and as a result, almost instantly he had swung at me again. Again, I parried it away, but this time he used more force, forcing me to parry suddenly with more effort, knocking me a little off balance. He swung a third time, and he swung hard enough that when I parried, I had managed to just barely save myself. Unfortunately, I lost my sword in the process as he swung with so much force that it flew off my hand since my balance was initially thrown off.

Instinctively, I pulled out one of my daggers from my waist, and at the same time, my attacker lunged for me. Now that I only had a small dagger for a weapon, I could no longer parry effectively, but that was fine. Since I had a small weapon, this meant that I could move a lot more freely and faster, and so, I took advantage of the change. Using my dagger's blade, I parried his sword to my left slightly, throwing his spent energy off course. Since my move was a minor one, my attacker wasn't able to counter it properly as he hadn't perceived it. His sword grazed and screeched against my dagger, but since my counter was directly perpendicular to his lunge, I managed to push his sword away enough so that I had more room to move.

I took a quick step away to the left from my attacker's view so that I could execute my next move with precision, but my attacker wasn't going to let me do so freely and took to swinging widely towards me. His swing had tremendous power to it, but it was slower than what he had done before, so before it could've connected with me, I dashed backward. Contrary to how heavy his swing was, he recovered far more quickly than I expected, and as a result, he dashed for me and swung horizontally fast enough that I couldn't attack outright myself. Perhaps he was trying to compensate for the fact that I was wearing light armor on my torso, but he ended up swinging his sword towards my upper chest and neck. Since his swing was so high compared to the ground, I simply ducked underneath the swing, causing the exposure of his lower body for me to attack.

As he tried to process my sudden movement, I aimed a punch straight for his abdomen, delivering enough power that he flinched heavily. Now that he was weakened out of attacking, I then battered up into his chin using the hilt of my dagger. The hit knocked him upwards a little before he fell on his feet completely out of balance. He took multiple steps back, trying to retain composure and control, but I could tell that my hits proved a little too painful as he barely managed to react to my next move. To finish him off, I carried out a reverse-roundhouse kick that sent him out to the side, eliciting a groan from him before the contact with the ground put him out.

When I directed my attention to the last swordsman, I took notice that he was simply standing still, watching me intently. Since he wasn't doing anything, I chose to make my way over to my iron sword and picked it up, all while maintaining visual on my last opponent. At first, he simply stood there, watching my every move while I picked up my weapon and put away my dagger. However, the second I was properly wielding my sword, he made his move. In the blink of an eye, he crossed the distance between us and swung his sword so fast that I barely managed to intercept it with my own. Our swords rang our ears as they collided into one another, and immediately after, they collided again.

Within a second he had swung three times at me and all I was able to do was block them as parrying was just simply out of the question at the moment. When compared to my previous challengers, he was significantly more faster and precise, resulting in him placing immense pressure against me. He would swing down and I would block it horizontally, but then within a flash, he would have swung again horizontally, forcing me to block vertically without a chance to counter. As his last attack for the combo, he then swung diagonally from my top left to my bottom right, a direction which proved very difficult to block properly due to the angle against me.

My block was mediocre at best as his sword stopped just barely above my left shoulder. Not only that, but my sword was pushed against my chest plate due to the lack of speed in my reaction. If I didn't have armor on, he would've gotten me to cut into myself from the sheer force of his swing. He held me in place, inhibiting any possible resistance from me as I could not afford to do anything else. Afterward, he performed a front kick that landed right on my stomach. His kick managed to break through the lower part of my chest plate, sending me backward with recoil.

Without looking at my injury I was able to tell that some of the broken iron shards from my chest plate had pierced into my skin, but I didn't let the pain phase me. Even though my stomach felt lit up in flames, I braced against it, only because my opponent was not done with me. He took advantage of my recoil and dashed for me, attempting a lunge straight for the exposed area on my stomach. Out of pure instinct, I parried his lunge downward, just barely risking collateral against my groin, and then, when his sword dug into the ground, I stomped on it hard, forcing enough pressure that my assailant had to let go of the weapon before he followed his sword down.

He was now disarmed, but not any less dangerous as he tried to hook kick me from the left. To counter, I ducked and performed a low sweep kick with my left foot, nailing him on his standing leg as he could not dodge. My sweep forced him to fall over, making it clear for me to then approach him, but before I could do anything, he disappeared and reappeared behind me. Even though he had teleported as he was falling over, it seemed that behind me he was standing perfectly fine, and as so, he threw a punch straight for my back. At this point, it had become more of a fistfight as I threw down my sword. It was clear that it was far too clunky to use against my current opponent.

I pulled out my dagger and turned around instantly, following up with another low sweep kick to both dodge and counter, but he read my mind and teleported again. This time, however, instead of teleporting next to me, I barely managed to take notice that he had teleported above me to grapple me. Once again, my instincts shot up and I reacted with enough speed that I rolled away from his fall into me. Unfortunately, as a result, I was left vulnerable as I was low on the ground from having had committed to a sweep kick. I did not have any footing and was crouching, and before I could stand up, my attacker aimed a front kick with his right foot, forcing me to roll away again to his right.

Without lapse, since I had not rolled far, he changed his kick into a roundhouse kick in my direction using his left leg. This time, instead of rolling away, I took advantage and caught his leg before it struck me, sealing away any further attack from him in the immediate future. Now that I had latched onto his leg, I pulled him into me, throwing him off of his footing. Without me letting go at any second, he fell onto the ground directly in front of me with his left leg pointing upward with the rest of his body directed into the ground.

His upper body was essentially in front of me, so without hesitation, I stood up and then stomped him in the abdomen with my right foot heavily. As a result, I managed to knock the wind out of his lungs and stunned his ability to breathe. As a reflex, he flinched and tried to protect his stomach, all while he was struggling to regain his breath, but I followed up with a second stomp, this time while aiming directly for his head. Without a doubt, the force of my stomp trampled him out of his consciousness as his broken breathing ceased the moment I had made contact.

Now that all of the perceived opponents were defeated and laying about, I focused my attention and looked for Adelina who was perfectly fine herself. Without a halt, she took notice of my injured abdomen and made her way towards me, but before she began to heal me, I stopped her. In the very moment that she had made it to me, my vision pulsed an outgoing red line, and when I looked around, I observed the sudden appearance of multiple figures all around us. This time, they were in far greater numbers, and some were more armed. There were multiple squads of archers perched on the rooftops at the back, all of which were aiming right at us, all while there were about twenty or so swordsmen on the ground, all of which were varying in stature and even armor. They were even in the formation of four rows of five behind one another.

Fighting five unarmored swordsmen proved dangerous toward the end already as it is, so there was no way I was going to prevail against twenty of them. At this point, I could trust Adelina to fight more seeing how proficient she is at archery, but there were still way too many to account for. _Seriously, what the fuck is going on?!_

Suddenly, before anyone made a move, a series of loud claps began emanating from behind the large formation of swordsmen. At first, the clapping was strong and crisp, but within seconds, it became softer and softer before the giggling of a woman could be heard. At first, the clapping and giggling had startled me, causing me to tighten my grip on my dagger. Adelina, on the other hand, had readied an arrow, facing the formation as intently as I was. Fortunately, our alert became unnecessary as every single Phantom Company soldier relaxed, all of them putting their weapons away and getting rid of their combat stances.

Following their move, I placed my dagger back into my holster, causing Adelina to follow through herself by placing her readied arrow back into her quiver. After we disarmed ourselves, we noticed the ground formation beginning to come apart, creating a rippled opening through the center of their formation. Within seconds, the breaking formation showed the origin of the giggling and clapping, and at the same time, that person began making their way over to where Adelina and I were standing. As they moved, I began moving towards them, trying to shorten the distance between us naturally but faster.

Well, it wasn't much of a surprise in terms of who I was looking at. If anything, my surprise still resides within the question of why the hell we were attacked. Surely I was about to start getting some answers now that everything had begun to calm down.

After covering the distance between us, the three of us stopped while facing each other. At first, no one was saying anything, mostly because I was being stared at quite intently by the giggler. Seeing as how they were preoccupied with their intentions, I decided to speak up first.

"Do you mind if I ask what this is about, _Valkyrie_?" Right as her name left my mouth, Valkyrie's purple feline eyes were shining incredibly bright, almost as if her pupils were a light source of their own.

"Ooohh... goodie! It seems that you have learned my name. I guess a little birdie must have been talking about me huh?" She presented a strong smile with her words as she looked over to Adelina, before facing me and letting her smile become even bigger. "I know. I know. You're confused at what has just unfolded, but worry not! I can promise you that regardless of what may have happened, everyone would have been relatively fine. However, before you start asking your questions..." Suddenly, Valkyrie walked right in front of me, denying my personal space. She then leaned over to my left ear, letting me feel her warm breath on my neck. "... _You are quite an extraordinary fighter, did you know that? I'm gushing with excitement from your near-flawless display of strength... I just can't help but express this._ " She then followed up by placing one of her hands on my chest and the other one on her own. " _I can't wait to get to know you more_." Finally, she backed away and stared at me sheepishly, a look that somehow felt hollow behind her words.

"So? What was all of this about?" I asked, completely ignoring the sudden compliments that had derived from Valkyrie. For some reason, my ignorance lighted her eyes even more.

"Yes, yes. I'll answer your questions. But first, don't you think that we should talk somewhere more comfortable and not in the middle of the open like this? Say, perhaps at a table inside a nice home?" _Yeah, yeah. Whatever._

"Fine. Follow me." Without hesitation, I began walking to my house with both Adelina and Valkyrie following behind. Well, maybe not Valkyrie as she had taken a liking to walking right next to me, nearly linking my arms with hers. That very fact only caused me to shiver above all else.

"Ah, right. You're going to need to take care of that, aren't you?" Suddenly, Valkyrie began rubbing her hand softly on my abdomen, causing me to flinch from the pain of her contact. "Well, you're going to be alright. After all, we have someone here who can help you just fine." She removed her hand from my abdomen before looking at me in the eyes.

_Yeah, everything she does makes me shiver._

* * *

"Alright. Now that were are somewhere nice and comfortable, do you mind if you could start talking now? To start, why did your men attack us?" Adelina, Valkyrie, and I were all in my house's dining room with Adelina sitting next to me and Valkyrie sitting opposite of us across the table. Apart from us, there were only a handful of Phantom Company soldiers stationed outside my house on patrol as she had dismissed everyone else. As so, we were by ourselves with privacy.

"I had them attack you as a test."

"A test? For what? To test my ability?"

"Precisely, although I'll have you know that when I initially came here, that was not part of my intent." As she spoke, Valkyrie reclined back into the wooden chair she was sitting on, taking a more relaxed posture.

"Oh? And what was your initial reason then?"

"I had multiple reasons for coming here. First and foremost, I realized that I had left you back then without a means of contacting me. I had to come back to establish a means of communication between you and us, otherwise, if I needed anything from you, I would have to come here personally every single time, and frankly, that is very inconvenient. After all, you live in the middle of nowhere. I would appreciate it greatly if my presence here only involved the matter of performing a check-up on your responsibility here."

"Alright. Next?"

"My next reason was that I needed to prove your ability as a fighter. I cannot give you any particular details as it is all confidential, but all I can tell you is that I was ordered to have you spar with one of my men. Unfortunately, when I came here to do so, I noticed that you and Deli here were nowhere to be found."

" _Deli?_ "

"Ah, Deli is what I call our friend here. Right, _Deli_?" She pointed and looked at Adelina who was looking into her lap where she was fiddling with her bow.

"Yeah." Was all that Adelina muttered as she continued with her fiddling.

"See? Well, anyway, as I was saying..." Valkyrie took to ignoring Adelina's clear antipathy for her. "... You two were nowhere to be found and that caused a _little_ bit of stress. I became _slightly_ irritated as I thought that maybe, just _maybe_ , I was going to deal with Deli running away again. And so, as a means of sating my sudden angst, I thought that maybe, instead of having you spar one of my men, I would entertain myself by having you fight more than just one. After we came back here today to check if you had returned, one of my spotters alerted me to the two of you making your way home, and so, I set everything up quickly."

"And?"

"You proved to be a marvelous fighter!" She suddenly sat up and leaned towards me from across the table with her eyes shining like before. "You don't understand your accomplishment, but that is perfectly fine. I just want you to know that you _passed_ and that I am severely interested in you now. You managed to take down one of my more capable squad of men completely by yourself. Not only that, but you also managed to subdue them with nonlethal means, saving me from collateral! They may still not have been my best, but you trumped them. Although, you did suffer an injury along the way. Well, your slight scratch is nothing to your achievement!"

"I... see..." I muttered before she reclined back into her chair again. _Why is there so much joy coming from you? What the hell are you all about here?_

_"_ Well, I know I'm going to get an earful anyway as Deli managed to impale three of them, nearing them to their demise, but I can live with that. The important part here is that you succeeded."

"Alright. So since I _succeeded_ , what is going to happen now?"

"Since you succeeded, I am now allowed to tell you that I will return personally in three days once I finish reporting back our results. During the time between then and now, as part of a reward, my men will be coming by periodically to deliver some goods here to your home, courtesy of my kindness, along with other goods that I am tasked with handing over. On the third day, when I come back personally, I'll fill you in into what is going to be happening for you, along with some words from my superiors."

"Wait, what? What the hell do your superiors have anything to do with me directly?"

"Ah, see... I tried my best to downplay the attention, but unfortunately for you, I wasn't able to keep you under their radar. Well, it was hard to do so considering that as part of my report, I had to tell them that a squad's worth of my men had gotten killed by you. As a result, they now have a particular interest in you, especially since I had gotten out of my way to pair you up with Deli. That is all I can say so far." _Ah shit. Now her damned superiors have their eye on me? For fuck's sake..._

"What are you all going to do with me?"

"I cannot tell you that yet. However, because in the future we will be getting to know each other more, I'll tell you that at the very least, nothing you can't handle will happen." She flashed a bright smile in my direction along with a wink. Once again, I simply shivered as a reaction.

"I see... Well, it's not like I can do anything about this, can I?" I sighed as I closed my eyes.

"Aww, you don't have to be so pessimistic. You're doing great..." Valkyrie cooed. "I can guarantee that you'll be treated ri-"

"So? Any there any other reasons as to why you're here?"

"Ah? Oh, no. That is all, for now." I snapped Valkyrie out of her cooing. "Well, since I am done explaining myself, I need to get a move on. I'd like to hang around you a bit longer but, unfortunately, I'm busy. That being said, can you reach your arm out? The one where I placed your brand?" She stood up and extended one of her hands which began glowing with a purple light.

"Alright..." As she asked, I reached over with my branded arm, and as a result, she laid her hand on my arm, caressing it softly. Then, abruptly, I began to feel my arm as if it was set on fire.

"Ugh..." I groaned as a reflex, trying to brace against the searing pain on my arm. Fortunately, the flaming hot torment only lasted for a couple of seconds before it disappeared as abruptly as it had shown up. After having had finished with her action, Valkyrie removed her hand off of my arm where she uncovered the now updated brand. Now, the majority of the snake was shining purple with only its eyes and fangs having had stayed matte black. It was pulsating waves of fire inward toward the center of my arm, causing an animated sea of flames within the drawing itself. Unlike before, the purple detail was indeed a complete look of purple fire lighting up in tandem with the light around.

"There. This brand of yours will now serve as proof that you are someone who can not only communicate freely with our soldiers but that you can also talk personally to me whenever you'd like. If anyone doubts you, just show them this. If they still doubt you, tell me their name and I'll tear them a new one for being imbeciles." She began caressing my arm again, analyzing the new brand on my arm that reacted to her touch. "Now, as for the method of communicating with me, you'll be using _this_." She moved her hand from my arm to my left ear, caressing it in the same manner as before.

As before, my left ear felt lit up in flames, causing me to flinch to her touch, but within seconds, it was gone along with Valkyrie's hand. "Fucking hell... Does it have to be so damned painful?..." I muttered as I checked my ear for injury.

"Sorry, but there isn't anything I can do about that. It's just how it is." She reclined back into her chair once again all while looking at me with a wicked smile. "Now you have a means of talking to me or my guys. Now listen up because I'm not going to have the patience to explain this to you too many times. The way you establish communication is very simple. First of all, feel behind your ear for a different type of texture from your skin."

I followed her directions as I grazed my finger behind my ear. Very quickly I was able to feel a different texture, one that felt particularly rougher from my skin. "Okay." I signified my understanding.

"Now, press your skin as if it was a button with some pressure. When you do, tell me what you see."

Again, I followed her directions. Right when I pressed my finger into my skin, all of a sudden, a purple screen showed up in my vision. I didn't know what exactly was causing it, but it seemed to be akin to some form of 'display'. On the top left, there was an empty box labeled 'Codename _'. To the top right, there was a box with what seemed like three different options, all of which were labeled 'TL', 'TO', and 'LO', with 'TL' being checked while the other ones had a blank box next to it. On the bottom left, there was another box that incased the words 'SMO/CS: Off' and 'VT: Off'. To the bottom right, there was one last box that had the option 'Enable MIDT: False'. Apart from all of those boxes, at the very center was a tree of codenames that were connected. At the very top, the codename 'Valkyrie' was glowing brighter than the rest. When I 'looked' down, I was able to take notice that the tree ran down into another major box labeled 'Ozone'. After Ozone, the tree then split into several different code trees, all named 'Nomad', 'Scarecrow', and 'Titan'. When I looked down further, those trees split into several names with a primary designation counting up. For instance, when I looked under the tree 'Nomad', a new list showed up going by the order 'Nomad 1', 'Nomad 2', 'Nomad 3', all the way until it reached 'Nomad 9'. Last but not least, when I looked down even further past those names, the names split up one last time into trees where the codenames were given a secondary designation number. For example, when I looked under 'Nomad 1', the tree split down into the names 'Nomad 1-Actual', 'Nomad 1-2', 'Nomad 1-3', all the way until the second number reached nine. A similar process happened when I looked over to the rest of the squadron's trees. To put it simply, it all seemed to be a display of my communication's network.

"I see a huge screen with options along with a tree of codenames." While answering, I continued skimming the display for anything new.

"Good. Now listen carefully. The top left is, as it shows, the display of your codename. I haven't assigned you one yet so right now it should be empty, but I will soon. The bottom left should have the options for 'S.M.O/C.S' and 'V.T'. Those two are 'Stealth Mode Operation/Communications Silence' and 'Voice Transcription' respectively. To the top right you should see the options 'TL', 'TO', and 'LO'. Those three are 'Talk Listen', 'Talk Only', and 'Listen Only'. To the bottom right, you should see the option 'Enable MIDT' which stands for 'Enable Mission Information Display and Tracking'. Lastly, as the part that takes up most of your view, you should see a big expandable tree with a lot of codenames, with mine being at the top. Is everything I've mentioned so far accurate?" I nodded to show her that she was correct.

"Okay. Now, this is how all of this works along with their options. The top right decides how both a speaker's and listener's voices will be managed. On average, you should always have TL on as it is the basic mode to have on. TL allows both for a speaker's voice to go through to the listener and for the listener's response to go to the speaker. However, occasionally, whether it be you or someone else, you're going to be in a situation where it matters that only you speak, or that you only listen, which is what the other options are for. I'm sure I don't need to explain their effect for you as they're self-explanatory. The important part about those options is that the one who engages the communication first decides how the voices will be managed. For example, if I request to start talking to you when I have TO set in my display and you accept my communication, you won't be able to respond to me as your voice will be muted. If you pay close attention, you'll notice that your display will have automatically picked LO by itself as a response to my already picked TO and vice versa. As an advisory, the system will automatically display a request for communications along with the channel management option that they have picked beforehand to notify you of what type of communications it'll be, that way you'll know whether you'll be talking or only listening. Lastly, the one who engages communications first can also change the channel management at any point during a relay, so if you need to change your mind, you simply can."

"The next options are SMO/CS and VT. Depending on your circumstances or job, you're going to need to either make some points clear or are going to need some assistance. Stealth Mode Operation/Communications Silence, when enabled, will shut out any communication requests with you and will dim your display down along with simplifying your entire screen to the option itself along with MIDT. This is to help in circumstances where you cannot have any distractions or are in a place where the bright display could hurt you or distract you. Naturally, if you are to turn on this option, anyone who attempts communications with you will be notified that you are not available to talk. Not only that, but you will also be notified quietly of their attempt. You can find any attempts made within the MIDT which you are allowed to check while SMO/CS is on. Do take care in remembering that 'EMRs' will go through the SMO/CS option, so if you do get one, be sure to respond to it or return to it as soon as you see it."

"What are EMRs?"

"They're 'Emergency Relays'. They are as they sound. In dire situations, someone may contact you as part of an emergency, and as so, to not miss them, they will go through and will be accepted by you automatically or will be transcribed vocally by the system if you have VT on. Speaking of VT, its function is pretty simple and straight forward. The Voice Transcription option will display subtitles on your display of what your speaker is saying, aiding in recognizing what they say. This will prove useful to you if you are in an event where you cannot hear well or cannot understand the other person for whatever reason. Do note that if you have VT on but have SMO/CS on too, regular relays will show up in the MIDT more so as messages, just in case if you prefer that over a simple notification that they had attempted communications."

"Last but not least, there is the MIDT option, or the 'Mission Information Display and Tracking' option. This one you're going to use constantly as enabling it will display an entirely different menu. To make it easier to explain, how about you enable it?" Once again, I followed her directions, prompting a change of screens on my display.

"Now, do you see the five different categories that came up? The first one is labeled 'Primary Missions'. The second one is labeled 'Secondary Objectives'. The third one is 'Personal Missions'. The fourth one is 'Personal Secondary Objectives'. Finally, the last category is the 'Transcriptions' category. The Primary Mission category will house any mandatory missions or requests given to you along with their progress and any conditions for completion. The Secondary Objectives category are objectives given to you that are not mandatory but can be done and will display not only their progress but also their recommendation as to whether you should consider doing them or if forgetting about them is dismissable. The next two categories work in a very similar way, the only difference being that those missions and objectives are one's you make for yourself for your own doing. You can add and edit anything you add there and depending on what you do, the MIDT will automatically track your progression for them. Lastly, the 'Transcriptions' category will house any recent transcriptions that the system made while having VT on. This category will also house the EMRs. Do note that within this category, you can save any particular transcription you'd like just in case you need them for anything."

"Now that all of the options are out of the way, I'm going to finish up this entire lecture by explaining the tree. Using the tree is relatively simple. First and foremost, you can use this tree to see the codenames of who you are allowed to talk to. This feature should help you keep track of the people you're going to be speaking with at any given moment. Apart from that, this tree can also display the state of anyone you may want to talk to. This tree will do so by highlighting the person's box in a particular color. If the box is purple, it means that they are in a normal state, meaning that they are open to communications. If their box is blue, it means that they are sleeping, meditating, recovering, or are simply resting from work. If the box is grey, it means that communications with them are no longer allowed for the time being for whatever reason. If their box is silver, it means that they have enabled SMO/CS. If their box is orange, it means that the person is in a state of emergency. If their box is red, it means that they are incapacitated, hospitalized, or severely injured in any manner. A box that is yellow means that they are in combat or are at a mission-critical point. Last but not least, if their box turns black, it means that the person has died."

"Some of these colors will be applied automatically on your codename depending on your state or task, but others you must put yourself, such as the blue for when you're resting. You can check your state as it is shown to others or decide your state by selecting the box with your codename, although right now, since you don't have one, that box will not be up for use. That all being said, have you gotten a decent understanding of your new ability?"

"Oh, definitely, although... I do have _one_ question." I proceeded to turn off my display by removing my finger from behind my ear as I spoke and then turned to face Valkyrie directly.

"Oh, and that question is?.." She tilted her head to the side as if she was trying to look innocent or quirky.

"What the hell am I getting set up for here?" I asked without hesitation. _I know what this damn system is all about. You better not tell me what I think this is all for_.

"What do you me-"

"Don't bullshit me here Valkyrie. You are setting me up, aren't you? This system is too damn intricate for it to be _just_ for communications. What the hell is the Phantom Company setting me up for?"

"Aww, come on. You act as if it isn't obvious already..." She kept her head tilted, only that this time, she displayed a cold and wicked grin on her face. _For fuck's sake..._

"Wasn't it enough for me to handle Adelina here? Why the hell am I getting turned into one of your fucking _soldiers_?!" My voice rang a little too loud for my preference, not that it mattered. She had set me up. It's not like I have a choice either. Still, it pissed me off to know I have to put up with this so fucking shamelessly.

"Tsk tsk tsk. See, I told you earlier that I was here to prove your combat ability. I also told you that you had piqued the eyes of my superiors to the point that they wanted me to test you. You knew that this was going to happen from the beginning, didn't you? Why do you seem so agitated and surprised?" Her cold grin stayed on her face, growing bigger as she spoke.

"Because... Because..." I already knew this was going to happen the second she planted this communications system. I had nothing to argue with either. "Ah fuck it! Fine! Fuck! Do whatever you want with me then." _God damn did it burn to feel this inability to argue back_. _Why was I even mad to begin with? This was to be expected._

"See, you knew it after all. Now, come on. You don't have to be such a downer. You'll still get to take care of Adelina. If anything, you'll be working directly with her. Don't feel so bad." She was attempting to 'console' me, although I'm sure she was aware that it was only agitating me more. "I told you already, anything we are going to do with you isn't bad. I promise. I do promise you that." She continued, cooing at me as if she knew what she was doing. "You know what? How about I tell you straight up? Huh? Would it make it better?" I could swear that there was sarcasm in her voice. "Three days from now, you're going to get your first mission. The very first mission as a _Phantom Company soldier_. There. I said it. Perhaps hearing the obvious made it better for you?"

I looked into her eyes and I could see that my displeasure was nothing but a meal for her. With a groan, I looked down into the table following with a deep breath, removing all feelings of negativity from my mind. "Alright, whatever. Just get on with it then."

"Great! In that case, I'll be seeing you again soon in three days. As I said earlier, there will be goods delivered here, so pay attention to any contact from me or my soldiers, okay?" She stood up from her chair and began walking towards my front door. Before she walked out, she turned to me and waved goodbye while wearing her usual bright smile on her face. "Take care, _Viiictooor_." She cooed my name with strong emphasis before she walked out and disappeared with her men.

Now I was left alone with Adelina whose presence I had barely paid attention to throughout that entire conversation. I looked over to her and she had an angry look to her face, a look that seemed far too angry even for her. At first, I was going to ask her what was going with her, but my intuition told me that such a question was simply stupid and redundant. As a result, I opted to simply stare at the ceiling while trying to arrange my thoughts.

_Now I'm a fucking soldier. Oh boy, oh fucking boy. Goddammit. This shit is just piling up higher and higher. What type of bullshit are they going to have me do anyway? Are they aware that I have no particular knowledge of the outside world? They have to be fucking with me here. They expect me to take care of Adelina on top of the bullshittery that they're going to have me do? That's just a fucking joke now. Not only that, but she's going to be working with me? What the fuck does that mean? Are you telling me that not only am I going to become part of the organization that she hates, but now I'm going to have to mind her presence within the same bullshittery too?_

_I can't even imagine how she feels right now. Not only did they get their hands on her, but now they are going to completely monopolize her. But how? Didn't Adelina say that they went out of their way to make sure she was properly cared for? If so, then how the hell is this all even a good idea? Did they change their mind about that? Because I doubt that the mission they're going to make us a part of is going to be safe. Or maybe they're using me as leverage against her? But if so, how?_

Before I continued racking my brain with frustration, Adelina stood up next to me and began making her way out of my house. She didn't say a single word or didn't even face me. She simply left with nothing but silence to her name. Well, it was not something to be surprised about. We were both now stuck in high-level shit. If anything, I needed some solitude too.

* * *

Throughout the next three days, just as Valkyrie had said, her men came over to the village to drop off multiple shipments of goods. During the first day, they delivered racks of iron weapons and armor, courtesy of Valkyrie's 'kindness'. Afterward, on the second day, they delivered multiple stacks of various materials such as coal, food, seeds, wood, regular iron ore, hilts, arrows, multiple bows, leather, iron swords, iron tools, and various types of leather and iron armor. Finally, on the third day, Valkyrie arrived with the last set of shipments.

As expected, the last set of shipments pertained to the future mission I was going to be assigned as they all contained very particular items. To start, one of them brought various sets of clothes that were different in materials and styles. It was not difficult to figure out that they seemed to be some form of costumes and alternate wear. There were a good amount of sets for different occasions as some were far more fine and classy than others. The clothes were also not only for me but also for Adelina, hinting that she would indeed be accompanying me directly.

Apart from the clothes, there were cases filled with different documents and identity files, some of which were for Adelina and I, although ours were altered and faked. My name was Castada Alphanier, while Adelina's was Kalene Alphanier, meaning that our cover was that of siblings. The names were odd and the ID pictures didn't even match our looks. However, while that was the case, it was quickly brought to our attention that our looks were going to be altered through 'bewitching' means. I, of course, had no clue as to what the fuck that meant, and neither did Adelina. Fortunately for us, the process proved to not be painful at all.

It seemed that Valkyrie brought a user of magic that was able to change physical aspects indefinitely. To match my profile, my hair was turned jet black, my eyes were turned green, and I was given some facial hair such as a stubby beard. The rest of my body was kept the same as it was only my face that they had to worry about. Considering the various sets of clothing that pertained to me, I was made to look like some form of poor manual laborer as most of my clothes were of low quality and dirty. Adelina, on the other hand, was forced to change her iconic white hair to black and her grey eyes dark brown. Her clothes were also of low-end quality, but because of Adelina's natural beauty, she still managed to look great. However, she did look different to me. Her eyes were the biggest change to me as they no longer looked empty since they lacked their original ashen color, however, _somehow_ , regardless of how different she looked, I was still able to see her original self within my mind.

It seemed that this thought was also shared within Adelina's mind as she continuously stared at me ever since my look was altered. Even though she stared, she never said anything, causing me to wonder if perhaps she was thrown off from such a difference. Regardless, after our preparations were finished, we then met up with Valkyrie back in my dining room for a briefing and final touch-ups.

"Your mission is very simple. Your mission location is the Sevali Union in their Droideir District. You're going to be deployed under the cover of the Alphanier siblings, a poor working-class duo who live in the broken down Droideir. Victor, you will be working as a farm laborer under a company called Reaver's Farmership. Your job is going to be to identify and relay the existence of a man by the name of 'Zair Reaver', the owner of the company. How you find out about him does not matter, however, you mustn't draw attention to yourself. Your place is no more than a relayer for our team. When you identify and make contact with this person, you are to relay any information to Central Point Ozone. He'll be the one who will then guide you in terms of what you'll need to find out and of any requests needed to be done from you. Do note that Zair Reaver is not someone you're going to run into easily, so you're going to have to figure out on your own how to do so. He's someone who purposely hides behind the scenes. However, don't worry, I'm sure Ozone will guide you just fine."

"Deli, you, on the other hand, will be working alongside him in the same area, however, your cover will be as a house sibling who takes care of Victor. I have to make clear that the Droideir District is not one that is particularly... _civilized,_ so you're going to be Victor's medic if anything happens to him. Apart from that, your job will also be to work as a waitress at a lavish restaurant called "Daisy's Drinks". This restaurant has a habit of only hiring women as waitresses, and as far as we know, it is the place you'll most likely run into Zair if not one of his men. You are to try to find out information just as Victor will be, only that you'll be assisted directly by codename Scarecrow 1-3. She'll be working as a waitress with you and will guide you and help you out. Anything you find, you tell Victor so he can relay to Ozone."

"You both have had your facial features altered and have been given the documents required so that your cover is not blown. You have also been provided with funds to live, although do note that we will only provide you enough so that you can maintain your cover. Any money you make throughout the mission you can keep, just be careful about any that you show. Droideir, is, as I said, quite uncivilized, so take care of not getting yourselves into dangerous situations. I doubt Deli will be in any particular trouble due to her role, but Victor, I'm going to have to warn you: your cover is liable for risky situations. You've proven yourself as a capable fighter, but this does not mean that you'll want to let loose on anyone who causes you trouble. Be very picky in terms of when you fight and when you allow yourself to lose. If you play your cards right, you can turn a forged loss into informational gain."

"If, for whatever reason, you are to be found out, please, **do not reveal your connections to us**. If you do, you'll make it incredibly difficult to pull you out of any danger you may become part of. The only thing you should aim to do is to notify Ozone if you are compromised and we'll handle the rest if nothing else happens. I do want to make clear that this mission is not particularly of high priority or importance, mostly so that you don't become overwhelmed. Failure in this mission will be tolerated, only because you have my word. However, in the future, if you are to prove _too_ incapable, well... I'm sure you'll know what'll happen."

"Now, before you are deployed, I need to get a couple of things done first. To begin, Deli, would you mine if you could lean closer to me?" Valkyrie motioned with her hand at Adelina who reluctantly followed. Once Adelina was close enough, Valkyrie reached behind Adelina's left ear and emitted a purple glow with her hands. Then, suddenly, Adelina flinched and groaned as a result of the light shining brighter before it stopped altogether. "There, I have given you the ability to communicate with us with the same permissions as Victor. This should make it easier to maintain contact between the two of you and us." Valkyrie then turned to me. "Next, Victor, can you show me your branded arm again?"

"Okay." I reached over to her, prompting her to lay her hand on my brand. Once she did, she began tracing my entire arm with her index finger, dragging her finger throughout the brand itself. As she did, I noticed that the brand began fading away and fading back in place repeatedly.

"Okay, now press your finger on your brand." Once I did, my brand faded away completely, removing any traces of it being there. "Okay, now do it again." After repeating my previous action, the brand fully reappeared completely with every bit of its details. "There. Now you have to ability to hide your brand. This should make it easier to maintain your cover as our brand is easily recognizable. Only show your brand if you need to prove your authority level to any Phantom Company soldier or superior. **Never** show this brand to anyone you cannot identify as one of our own. You'll just throw away your cover pointlessly if you do."

"Last but not least, can the two of you lean closer to me together?" Following her request in unison, Adelina and I leaned over, letting her place both of her hands behind our left ears. "Okay, now can the both of you open your communications display?" We did as she asked. My purple screen covered my vision, showing me the huge display along with all of the options around to pick or change. "Good. First and foremost, Victor, your codename will become..." Suddenly my ear began ringing. "... **Disciple 1-1**." Abruptly, on my screen, under Valkyrie's and Ozone's boxes, another tree formed with my new codename showing up on the same level as the other lower code trees. Not only that, but my codename box on the top left now said 'Disciple 1-1' and began to glow purple. "Adelina, your codename will be **Disciple 1-2**..." Right as she said the codename, another tree by the name of Disciple 1-2 took place under Valkyrie's and Ozone's name next to mine. "... Victor, as Disciple 1-1, you will now be granted leadership of the new squad **Disciple 1** , with your new codename becoming **Disciple 1-Actual** , and in turn, creating an entirely new squad group by name of **Disciple**. In your squad, you will have Disciple 1-2 assigned under your leadership." Autonomously, my screen changed again with my codename updating to Disciple 1-Actual. Afterward, Adelina's code tree broke away and was moved under my name, which then caused both of our names to be encased in a box labeled Disciple 1 that could then expand into our codenames. Above the box that read Disciple 1, a new box showed up that read Disciple that encased the entirety of the Disciple code tree that I had just described.

"Congratulations! You two are now both part of the new group _Disciple_ , working under me, _Valkyrie_ , in tandem with _Nomad_ , _Scarecrow_ , and _Titan_ with _Ozone_ as the Central Point of Communications." Valkyrie remarked as she removed her hands from our ears, smiling at us as a proud mother would.

"I see." Was all I could say.

"Okay, now that we're done here..." As she spoke, Valkyrie stood up straight, staring directly at me. "It's time for your **deployment**."


	10. Deployment

"Actually... I lied. Not yet. I still have more things to explain before I have you out on the field." Valkyrie sat down and relaxed again while maintaining eye contact with me. "I need to give you both a deeper explanation of your cover stories along with some miscellaneous information. After all, I can't have you deployed without you knowing anything more than your names, right?"

"What else do you want us to keep in mind?"

"A general cover history. When you arrive at Sevali, you'll have to go through an evaluation checkpoint, and when you arrive at your assigned workplaces, you might be interviewed. Either that, or you'll have someone wanting to ask you about who you may be. This whole story I'm about to give you doesn't have to be strictly followed, just make sure that anything you make up is sensible and consistent. If anyone asks you where you are from, simply tell them you are from a distant and small community. This shouldn't be flagged as suspicious as many who wander into nations tend to come from such places. In your ID documents, your place of origin is labeled as "Evanescent". This is the mark given to those who have never resided in an official location. When you pass through the evaluation checkpoint, this will be changed to 'Last Available Residence of Mention: Sevali Union'. You will be effectively branded as people who originated in Sevali as this is where your document line will begin, so just take care to make that part of your story as you go on."

"As I mentioned before, you both are under the cover that you're siblings. As so, please be careful in terms of how you behave with one another. I don't know how close you two are..." Her eyes shined bright as she kept looking at me. "... Or what type of desires you two may have grown within one another..." Her eyes then turned to Adelina."... But try to keep your act sensible. I'd hate to hear that my two new cooperators failed because of an odd action that was witnessed to the public."

"Your family is all gone, and you two only have each other to depend on. Not only that, but a monster invasion at night wiped out your community. As a result, from having had been overrun, you made your way over to the Sevali Union in hopes of finding a stable place to live. Because you came from a very isolated place, your ID documents are very primitive. At the moment you have pictures on your IDs, but when you are deployed, they will be removed as having an ID with a picture would not make sense. Not only that, but the overall document is weak. You'll most likely be given new ones, so when you do, be sure that everything is still in check and that you protect them. If you lose your documents, your mission will be as good as over."

"Since both of you are supposed to be of the lower class, it is important that you keep yourselves in the Droideir District. If you go anywhere else, you'll most likely run into needless trouble. Just to clarify, the Sevali Union is divided into three separate districts: the 'Droideir District', the 'Amali District', and the 'Sevili District'. These three districts are a strict division of 'class' in the country. Droideir, as previously mentioned, is where all the lower class citizens reside in. On the other hand, in the Sevili, is where you'll find all of those in the upper class. The Amali, when compared to the other two districts is a little different, mostly in the sense that it doesn't house a particular class. Instead, the Amali is more of a neutral district where your class is simply unimportant. Regardless of how wealthy or powerful you are, in the Amali, you are as equal as the person next to you. As a result, you'll notice quickly that it is also the area with the most security."

"Well, that is all for the extra debrief. Are there any questions that you want to ask?" Valkyrie took a deep breath as she closed her eyes and relaxed.

"How will I know where to go and how to navigate myself within the country?" I asked.

"You do not need to worry about that. I'm sure Ozone will guide you just fine. Same to you Deli, Scarecrow 1-3 will work with you and I trust that she can do so well. Anything else?"

"How long will this all last? The mission I mean."

"That is dependent on how quickly you can complete your objectives. Although, considering the nature of your mission, unless something, in particular, gets in the way, you should not be deployed for more than a month."

"I see."

"Any other questions?"

"None from me."

"Deli?" Valkyrie turned to Adelina who simply shook her head as a response. "Alright, in that case..." Valkyrie stood up and walked to the center of the dining room where there were no obstructions around her. "... Valkyrie to Ozone, report to my location, over. Valkyrie to Scarecrow 1-Actual, report Scarecrow 1-3 to my location, over." Within seconds, two figures, with a sudden purple flash, teleported next to Valkyrie, one of which was a tall man who had immediately rung my memories. He was the one who had subjugated me before my first meeting with Valkyrie. Surprisingly, he was not wearing a cloak or a mask. As so, I was able to see his deep purple eyes along with his pale ghostly skin. He had no hair on his head either, and the only remarkable trait of his face was a scar that crossed his left eye diagonally.

On the other hand, the second figure was a woman almost as tall as Valkyrie. She had platinum blonde hair that was tied in a ponytail, revealing her fair and attractive face. Unlike Valkyrie, her skin was nowhere near being ghostly pale, but instead, was more so beige, making her look far more natural than Valkyrie. Her eyes were deep green and shined brightly, and her smile was no less lustrous as her teeth were completely white. She had no imperfections anywhere on her face either, or anywhere for that matter as the rest of her body was slim, albeit petite. She was wearing what seemed to be casual clothes, a simple white t-shirt, and black jeans, although both clothing pieces were ripped and slightly dirtied, compromising her overall beauty. To put it simply, her allure was on par with Valkyrie and Adelina. At this point, the only thing that could separate all three women from each other is your personal preference at best. _Are all of the women in this world attractive, or is this a coincidence here?_

"Ozone, reporting." The tall man said.

"Scarecrow 1-3, reporting." The blonde woman followed.

"These two will be the ones you'll both be working with. Be sure to warm yourselves up to one another as you'll all be working closely." Valkyrie said as she looked at me and Adelina. "Alright, that being said, Ozone, deploy Victor, codename Disciple 1-Actual to his initialization point, along with Adelina, codename Disciple 1-2. Scarecrow 1-3, deploy to your initialization point and wait for contact with Disciple 1-2."

Following her order, Scarecrow 1-3 teleported away, while on the other hand, Ozone walked over to Adelina and me. Shortly after, he uncovered his left arm where he revealed a brand exactly like mine. Afterward, his brand began to shine and emit a wire-type light connection from his left arm to mine, linking them together and causing my brand to shine as a result. Before I knew it, I began to glow purple along with Adelina while a purple circle began inscribing itself on my dining floor. My arm was burning a little, although it was nothing compared to the pain that Valkyrie caused when she tinkered with it.

Within seconds, Adelina and I were completely purple and translucent, fading in and out as if we some form of hallucination.

"Disciple 1 is ready for deployment." Announced Ozone, presumably to Valkyrie. Without a word, Valkyrie nodded with a beaming smile before waving her hands at me. Then, in an instantaneous moment, my eyes were filled with a bright white flash, blinding me completely. As a result, before I knew it, I found myself standing next to Adelina in an open grass plain with a single dirt road.

* * *

I turned and looked around, soaking in the natural grass and flowers that spread everywhere, a sure sign that I was no longer within the dining room of my own home. Adelina, just like me, was surprised and analyzing our surroundings, wondering where exactly we were. On our feet were a couple of briefcases, presumably filled with our funds and clothes, and on our hands, was a little packet with our identification files. Apart from that, it was just us as far as our eyes can see.

"It seems we're on the Amali Road," Adelina commented as she looked around.

"Amali Road?" I questioned as I looked throughout the horizon.

"Yeah. It's the only road that leads cleanly into the Sevali Union. It's called the Amali Road because it takes you straight through the middle of the Amali District inside the Sevali Union." She explained.

"I see. Which way do we go, then?" Before Adelina could respond, a tiny request display appeared in my vision. It housed the name Ozone with a request for T&L communications.

"Ozone to Disciple 1-Actual, come in, over." I heard a deep voice right in my left ear. It was at this moment that I realized that I was not particularly familiar with the way to operate the network, or how it is that I should speak. "To answer without going through your display, just say your codename and acknowledge that you're hearing me." _I see. Simple enough I guess?_

"This is Disciple 1-Actual, I hear you... over," I responded, trying to mimic his way of speech.

"There you go, Disciple 1. It might take you a while to get used to this, but don't let it get to your head. First things first, are you safe and collected where you are? Over."

"Yeah, we're good and all. I'm in the middle of Amali Road with my partner here, over."

"Copy. To get to the Sevali Union, make your way east of your location. If you open up your display and head over to your MIDT, you should see your mission already posted along with your first objective. If you pick the objective, your screen will display the objective's location along with a guidance-line to show you where to go. Use this feature and get used to it. It'll help you do things quicker in the long run, over." Following his instructions, I opened my MIDT and picked my only primary objective that was organized under a banner called 'Mission Alpha: Iron Arrow'. Within a moment, my entire display simplified into a screen where a purple arrow laid on the ground in front of me, pointing directly ahead while showcasing a long and linear line that followed throughout the entire road. At the bottom left of my screen, I noticed a percentage bar of how close I was to the destination, while on the bottom right, I saw an option to cancel the MIDT.

"I got it. I know where to go, over."

"Understood. For now, make your way to the Sevali and pass its evaluation checkpoint. When you are inside with Disciple 1-2, contact me. Ozone, out." Without any more words, Ozone tapped out of my ear and I was left with Adelina to talk to.

"Ah... Well, with that out of the way, I guess we have to get moving now huh?" Adelina sighed as she began to walk in the proper direction, prompting me to start following her.

"I take it that this is all familiar to you? Considering you've been here before and all?" I chose to ask.

"Yeah, since this is the only road to the Sevali, it isn't hard to remember everything on it, especially when the majority of it is the same."

"So, about this Sevali Union, what kind of place are we going to exactly?"

"Eh... I can't say much since I wasn't there for too long. My stay was all in the Amali District where I deemed to be the safest for me. In terms of Droideir and Sevili, all I know are rumors at best. For Droideir, it is as Valkyrie told you, a pretty _uncivilized_ district where almost anything goes. Violence and larceny are commonplace and the only reason why you're there is simply that you cannot afford to be any place better. On the other hand, the Sevili is said to be the complete opposite. Inside the Sevali Union, the Sivili District is considered the 'Golden Piece' of the union. There is rarely any wrongdoing inside and if you can afford it, you'll never worry about anything 'haunting your dreams'."

"So then the Sevili is where all should aim to be then?"

"Not exactly. If anything, the words going around at the time lead to the Sivili not being any better than Droideir. While in Droideir the issues are all external, in the Sivili, all the problems are internal. Apparently, in Sivili, while you may not get robbed or beaten up, you're definitely in for some form of manipulation. I don't know what exactly are the issues as it was all just rumors, but if you live in the Sivili, you're bound to face similar stress as you would in Droideir."

"I see. Then the Amali is best then?"

"If you're looking for the biggest chance for peace, sure. Frankly, all of the Sevali is riddled with problems. If I wasn't running away from the Phantom Company at the time, I would've left simply because the Sevali is not a pleasurable place to stay. The worst part is how rigid they are with immigration and privacy. For some reason, they have a huge infatuation with keeping to themselves, which is confusing as they are the only nation around here. They'll check you thoroughly and ask you questions relentlessly, and then they'll keep their eye on you without rest. If you try to leave, you'll have to claw your way out as they'll do anything to keep you inside."

"If that's the case, then how did you manage to leave?"

"I snuck out. Escaping wasn't difficult considering how short my stay was, but it wasn't particularly easy to pull off. All I can say is that if I were to come back here looking like my regular self, I can guarantee that they will not hesitate to get their hands on me for some form of revenge or spite."

"Is it that bad inside? What's the community like?"

"Annoying in my experience. It seems to be a nation-wide custom to be private and stingy inside. No one will bother to give their hands to you and you'd be lucky if anyone looks your way if you need any bit of help. Owners of ins and shops are frugal with their prices and conditions, and the average citizen seems to want to have you disappear above all else. It truly amazes me as to how a place like that could even stay together."

"I see... And this mission of ours? What are your thoughts on it?" I gambled. I wasn't sure if this was a question whose answer I wanted to hear from her, but since we'd be in this for a while, I figured I'd work to get any of her negativity out of the way.

"Ugh..." She sighed, as I expected. "We don't have much of a choice in this, and frankly, as long as I get to stay with you, I'm happy..." Suddenly Adelina turned to me with an apprehensive look. "Err... I mean... Since you are strong and all..." She tried to speak as she kept staring at me.

"I understand." Was all I said as a response since there wasn't much else to say.

"Right... right..." She spoke softly as she turned her attention straight ahead.

"Do you think that this mission will be easy enough for us?" I tried to return to my intended topic.

"Um... I can't say..." She trailed as off she kept her gaze ahead. "... For the most part, it seems that our jobs are relatively simple. However, considering where we are going to work, I can't help but at least mention that we're going to struggle at some point, if not me, then especially you."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. After all, Valkyrie did go out of her way to warn you about the possible dangers you may run into in the future during this mission. She even went as far as telling us that I'd be deployed with you as your medic in case things get too bad. If all of that wasn't probable, I doubt she would've gone out of her way to mention any of it. I don't know what type of danger may find itself in your way, but if she had to warn you about them, then they must be dangerous and noteworthy. Having been told all of that, I can't help but be worried for you as a result."

"What about you though? Considering that you're supposed to be cared for and away from anything that could harm you, don't you think deploying us here is a bad idea?"

"I don't doubt the fact that this is all a bad idea, neither do I doubt that the Phantom Company must be insane for doing this after all of the efforts they put to keep me. However, as much as I doubt this entire mission, I also doubt that they would go out of their way to put me in harm's way. After all, if they knew that this mission would put me in danger, then why would they even do so? You being my 'caretaker' is not enough reason for them to justify it, so clearly, if they're making me part of this, then it means that my end is a lot more safe or tame. Unlike you, I wasn't warned by Valkyrie. As so, I have some confidence in that my existence will be relatively fine when compared to yours."

"I see... Well, I just hope that this mission doesn't turn into some sort of mess. They have already put too much on me, I don't need anything unnecessary being stacked on top of it all too."

"Yeah, me too."

* * *

"Looks like we are nearing our destination," I said out loud as I stared directly ahead. My attention had already been grabbed minutes ago, but now that we were closer, I was able to truly analyze the construction at the end of our road. What I was looking at, in essence, was not supposed to be surprising to me, and yet, I still managed to become astonished anyway.

In front of us, there was an incredibly vast stone curtain wall that stretched kilometers worth of distance wide, almost as if it was a complete barrier to the entire landscape behind it. The wall was very tall, reaching somewhere along twenty meters or so worth of height, causing it to loom over the ground and cast a wide shadow in our direction. At the top of the wall, one could see it turn into battlements where countless armored and armed guards were standing, all of which were watching vigilantly over the landscape that we were walking on. Occasionally, within some of the crenels of the parapet, one could spot a ballista resting within, pointing outwards, ready to be fired alongside them, adding pressure to the overall view. Last but not least, I was able to spot a grand iron gate at the very center of the wall, exactly where the road ended from our view, with its entirety being guarded by two squads of ten guards around, all of which were heavily armed with full iron armor and swords.

As I said, it was all nothing that I couldn't have expected, but I couldn't help myself from feeling a bit of surprise in how grand the wall already looked. I could only imagine how much work and enforcement such a wall would need, especially when I was only able to see a portion of it.

"Yes, we are. The guards are also aware of this it seems like." Adelina commented as she looked at the archers at the top who were returning our attention. They didn't seem alert, so that was good so far, although, considering how many there were, it was kind of off-putting to know that all of them were staring. It felt as if we were walking on a minefield where a mistake could be made any second.

"I see that they are as serious as I thought they'd be. They must have a strong reason to post so much security around here." I commented as I moved my eyes to the guards on the gate.

"They're very apparent, aren't they? That level of security is overkill considering how little visitors this place gets, and it isn't any less overkill against monsters. They could easily defend this place with about a fourth of the manpower here, and yet, they do this anyways." Adelina added.

"Maybe they're expecting something? Perhaps this level of security isn't the norm and they're just being this way now due to a special circumstance?"

"Perhaps, but we won't know by asking, that's for sure. I already tried my hand at doing so before and I learned then that it was a pointless endeavor."

Since we weren't far, reaching the gate barely took any time, and before we knew it, Adelina and I were standing in front of the guardsmen by the gate. At first, they simply stared at us, as if they were suspicious. Their eyes were roaming all over us and our details, and their scornful looks were not any less obvious. They were looking to find something, but, fortunately for us, their cautious looks didn't last long before they chose to speak up.

"Why are you here?" The guard at the very front of us asked, letting me take notice immediately of how deep his voice was. His voice could've caused the ground to vibrate through the sheer levels of bass it had.

"We're looking for a place to stay. This is the only place around, so we're looking to find a home here." I responded, trying to keep a neutral demeanor to the best of my ability.

"How long?"

"As long as we may need."

"Is it just the two of you?" His eyes wandered, scanning the area behind me as if he was checking to make sure there was no one hiding in the open plains.

"Yes."

"Do you have any identification on you?"

"Yeah... Here." I opened the little packet of documents I was deployed with and handed him a copy of my 'identification' paper. I say 'identification', however, the document was nothing more than a piece of paper with my physical details, name, and place of origin handwritten on it. In terms of proof, the paper was as good as not existing, however, given the nature of our cover story, anything better would just be out of place.

"And the girl?" He asked, causing Adelina to search and hand over her copy of her ID. "You two are siblings?" He followed, eyeing us without remorse.

"Yes."

"You don't look similar at all..." His gaze got stronger.

"Yeah, we get that a lot." I devised on the spot.

"Do you now?" His voice rang with a higher tone of suspicion.

"Yeah." I stayed quiet. I wanted to limit my answers so that I didn't risk saying anything necessarily.

"These papers are two piles of garbage. They're as good as burnt ash. How am I supposed to believe you?" He asked without hesitation. _See, now why couldn't you have just asked that from the beginning?_

"How else are we supposed to prove ourselves to you?" I returned. It seems that my simplistic retort was more than enough to quell his suspicions as he didn't know how else to respond. This very fact caused some distaste to show on his face, but I ignored it.

"Fine... Come with me." He handed us both our papers back before he turned around and faced the gate in front of us. " **Open the gate!** " His voice resonated among all the guards thoroughly as almost every one of them had flinched due to the sudden increase in his volume. Without much of a delay, after his order was heard, the heavy iron gate began to open up, revealing little by little the land inside. At first, just like the outside, I was able to spot numerous guards posted, all of which were either opening the door or watching past it with great attention. However, very quickly I was able to lay my eyes on the numerous buildings inside.

Right off I was able to see how congested the land was as there were already tens of buildings lined up in my view alone, with many, _many_ more spreading down and around the Amali Road. There was no grass around as the ground was nothing more than dirt, and there was absolutely no greenery anywhere to be seen, only dirt, gravel, wood, stone, and glass. Compared to my village, the colors were far drabber and the view was far more crowded than I could have ever imagined. There were hundreds of people within my view, all of which were either moving around, hanging about, patrolling, shopping, conversing, dealing, or just standing. Even though the place was teeming with residents, none of it looked 'eventful'. Everyone seemed reserved and withdrawn, causing the environment to be nearly silent as a result.

To put it simply, everything seemed somber and lifeless, contrary to what you would expect out of a place filled with people and places.

The guard walked through the gate, prompting us to follow close, and after we passed through, he faced another guard and pointed at us. It seemed that this gesture alone was enough as the other guard understood as he walked over to us.

"Take them to _Evaluation_. They're new and got nothing to their names." The deep-voiced guard ordered, causing the other guard to nod before gesturing us to follow him. Soon after, the deep-voiced guard turned around and walked back outside before he ordered the gate to be closed again. The guard we were placed onto, on the other hand, began walking to our left, straight for a wooden building that had a sign in front that read 'Evaluation and Residency Office'. The building was large and already had a line of people waiting outside, although it seemed that the line was for a different purpose from ours as we were guided past it and into the building right off the bat.

When we walked inside, we were able to see an extensive counter with multiple clerks on standby, talking with their current clientele. The room was was very large in of itself as the enormous counter only took the middle third of the room's space, whereas to the right, I could spot numerous tables and chairs were even more clerks were talking to clientele. On the left-hand side of the room, I was able to spot a sign that read 'Evaluations', where there was only a small counter with one single clerk on standby, completely free of preoccupation as she was just sitting there, tapping her fingers on the desk with her eyes closed.

The guard, while disregarding all of the noise and action going around in the room, walked over to the inactive clerk to our left before tapping on her desk, causing her to open her eyes and face our direction. "We've got two new ones here. Get them sorted out." Was all he said before he turned away and left the room.

"Understood. In that case, can the two of you follow me?" She stood up and walked out of her counter before walking further to our left where there were multiple doors on the wall. Above the doors, I was able to read another grand sign that read 'Evaluations' Offices'. "The both of you will be going into the room farthest to the left." She proceeded to walk to the room she had pointed out and then opened the door for us to walk in, prompting us to do so before she closed it behind us.

The room we were in housed a large table in the middle with two sets of two chairs residing on opposing sides of one another. Apart from the furniture, there was absolutely nothing else as the room was nearly empty everywhere else. Naturally, since there wasn't much to do or look at, I made my way and sat down in one of the chairs on the side closest to me, causing Adelina to follow my movements as she sat down in the chair next to me. Afterward, we both set our briefcases down next to us and our packets of documents on the table.

At first, for a couple of minutes, we waited in complete silence, and as so, because of the dull inactivity, I chose to check my watch only to find out that it was 2:46 PM. This information, at the moment, was completely irrelevant for me as I had no timetable to stick to as far as I knew. Since that occupation was short-lived, I then took to checking out my various ID documents, trying to gauge what they were and what they said, mostly because it wasn't until now that I had realized that I hadn't given them a thorough lookover at all.

Well... I say that, but... the documents weren't anything amazing to analyze within themselves.

My main identification paper mentioned that my name is Castada Alphanier, that I am 23 years old, am 1.98 meters tall, have green eyes, am a male, and that my place of origin is evanescent. Apart from my identification paper, I also had a card which also housed the same details as my main identification paper. It was smaller, and it seemed that it was small enough to carry in my pockets, leading me to believe that it would be something I may have to carry all the time. Apart from that card, there was also another piece of paper labeled 'Work Statuses'. This one, in terms of personal information, housed only my name, age, and height, however, instead, it had a huge bar table with two columns and many rows. It was empty though, so again, like my other documents, it was weak and meaningless.

"Since you've been here before..." I spoke as I began to put my documents back into my packet. "What type of questions are they going to ask us?" I asked Adelina.

"A lot of them are going to be redundant if anything. They're likely to ask needless things such as what we are trying to do, or what we used to do, things that, on a technical level, we can't prove." Adelina answered as she tapped her fingers on the desk.

"I see. And our cover story? What are we going to tell them?"

"Anything as long as it makes sense I guess. You don't have to worry about making anything too complicated. They won't be able to verify what you say for the most part, or at least, they didn't do so much back when I had initially arrived here on my own."

"How long will this last?"

"Far longer than you're going to wish for."

"I see..."

Suddenly the door to our room opened up, showcasing the entry of an old man who was dressed in a black suit and had a pile of documents in his hand. He had a wrinkly face, displaying his age very clearly, and the greyish-white color of his hair and facial hair were signs of the same. However, despite his age, he was groomed properly as his hair was neatly swept to the side and his facial hair was properly cut and trimmed, giving him a look of elegance above all. He was smiling at us the moment he walked in too, making his presence warm, contrary to how everyone else I've seen has looked.

After walking in, he made his way over to the opposite side of the table where we were sitting by and sat down himself, all while he placed the documents he was carrying on the desk. Afterward, he then crossed his legs along with intertwining his hands by his stomach, causing him to give off a formal demeanor. At first, he wasn't saying anything, and for a couple of seconds, the room remained silent, however, very quickly, we took notice of another person who was making their way into our room. This person had a look far more... _irregular_ when compared to the old man. He was wearing a black and golden patterned hooded cloak that covered his entire being, with his face being the only visible part that we could see. Instead of sitting down, he stood to our right between the old man and us, as if he was some form of a mediator. His demeanor, as a result, was far more ominous, causing me to become slightly alert.

"Alright, now that we're all here, how about we begin. First, can you both hand me your identification papers, if you have any?" The old man began as he leaned forward into the desk.

"Alright." I complied as I handed him my main ID paper with Adelina following through. _Wait, should I be thinking of Adelina as Kalene now? It may make it hard for me to stay consistent if I keep thinking of her as Adelina._

_"_ Castada Alphanier, it says here that you are 23 years old, are about 1.98 meters tall, have green eyes, have black hair, and are a male. Is this all correct?"

"Correct," I confirmed.

"Check him, if you could, please?" The old man turned to the cloaked one, who didn't voice their response, but instead, he lifted his left hand and pointed it at me. Suddenly, a blue wire-type connection made contact with my body, causing my entire body to glow bright blue. For a couple of seconds, the blue light that engulfed me was flickering all over, making me look as if I was being scanned or something, however, within time, it began to dissipate away, resulting in me looking normal again.

"All correct." The cloaked man voiced roughly. His voice was terse, sounding as if it was straining for him to speak.

_"_ Good, it seems your physical looks match what you've mentioned Castada..." The old man smiled at me. _I see... So they were scanning me to make sure I wasn't hiding any true physical details? Interesting... It seems the Phantom Company's magic is stronger than the scan then_. _Not only that, but they must've added this cloaked man as a security measure for this process_ _since they're verifying my statement._ "...Now... Let's see..." He flipped and took to looking at Ade- err, Kalene's ID paper, and skimmed over it. "... Kalene, it says here that you are 21 years old, are about 1.73 meters tall, have brown eyes, have black hair, and are a female. Is all of this information correct?"

"Yes," Kalene responded with a calm but distant voice. This time, without being asked, the cloaked man raised his arm and performed the same scan on Kalene, making her glow bright blue just as I had. Just like me, when he was done, he confirmed that Kalene had not lied and that her physical features were as she had said.

"Good. I take it that since you both have the same surname, that you two are married?" The old man queried. _Married?_

"Married? No, we're siblings." I corrected him.

"Oh?..." He chuckled. "My apologies. You two don't look too similar, so I assumed you two must've been lovers." He continued. It seemed that this comment threw Kalene off a little as she was staring at me, although I disregarded it, only because I didn't want to make any unnecessary impressions. "Well, since you're siblings and have arrived here together, I take it that you two must've lived together, or near each other before arriving here?" He changed the topic.

"Yes."

"Where exactly?"

"At this small community about three weeks away to the west." I lied.

"It says here that your place of origin is evanescent. Since you've written this in the document, can I assume that this community where you two came from is not an official country, union, kingdom, town, so on and so forth?"

"Correct. It was a relatively small settlement that only had seventeen people. It wasn't anything on a scale to have an official nature."

"Who lives there apart from the two of you now?"

"No one." My answer caused the old man to pause in his tracks before wording any more questions, and as so, instead, he stared at me for a little while. It was clear that my answer surprised him.

"What do you mean?"

"About three and a half weeks ago, at night, for some reason, a huge monstrous mob went through our camp. Since the numbers were far too great when compared to ours, almost everyone was killed or was lost in the engagement. Only my sister and I survived, only because everyone else took to letting us escape above all. Now, we are here, looking for a place to live as we didn't have much to live off of back where we used to be." _I guess this is where I have to start selling our cover story_.

"That's... quite unfortunate... I'm sorry for your losses." The old man bowed his head down momentarily before raising it back up. "Have you been wandering around ever since in hopes to look for a home?" He followed up.

"Kind of. At first, when we had escaped, we had no idea where to go. As so, when daytime came around, we returned to our village in hopes to find anything worth scavenging. When we looked around, we ended up finding a small bag in our little hut with a note. The note was written by one of our neighbors and it read that we should aim to head east, instructing us that if we traveled far enough, we would run into a decent place to be. The note was vague and I had no clue as to how our neighbor knew such information, but since we didn't have any better plans, that is what we did. As a result, we arrived here." I lied extensively.

"I understand. And these documents? When were they made?"

"We made them on the way over here. Inside the bag, we had found funds that were provided by the note's writer, along with pieces of paper and another note telling us how to put them to use. Since he was guiding us here, he gave us a starting line for these documents since his note read that we would need them."

"What do you plan to do here apart from living?"

"We plan to work. I'm sure it is not wrong for me to assume that this entire place is not one that relies on trading for currency. Otherwise, we would have no reason to try and live here."

"I understand... Your verdict?" The old man once again turned to the cloaked one who raised his hand and pointed at me. This time, I was engulfed within a white light that made me look ghostly, and within seconds, I began to pulsate green.

"He hasn't lied." The cloaked man answered. _Oh, I see._

"Good. Good. Well, it seems that you've told us the complete truth so far. That will make it easier for all of us." _Interesting... Even while I told them a sob story they remained skeptical. No less from what I was told to expect. Also, I guess the Phantom Company must've blessed us with something for them to be able to say that I'm not lying, even though everything I've said has been nothing but lies. What type of garbage can you pull with magic nowadays, seriously?_

For the next twenty to thirty more minutes, we stayed in the room and went through the process of officializing our documents for our stay in the Sevali. It seemed that, apart from being a lie detector, the cloaked man was also some form of a printer as he used magic to officially 'print' our information on new pieces of paper and cards for us. Unlike our messy handwritten documents, our new documents had clear, formal print and were stamped, proving that they were official and real. The writing of our documents, courtesy of the cloaked man, was essentially engraved into the material as the writing couldn't be easily tampered with. Not only that, but it seemed that the cloaked man also reinforced the documents' paper as they weren't capable of being ripped or stained anymore.

By the end of the meeting, Kalene and I had a brand new ice white identification paper that not only had our physical details engraved but also new ID numbers with an updated place of residential mention, along with a clear, photorealistic picture of our faces. Our old cards were also replaced as we were given a small card of official quality instead, all while being instructed that we must carry it everywhere we go as it'll be a small but surefire proof of our identities. Last but not least, our Work Statuses document was also replaced in the same manner as all previously mentioned documents.

Apart from having our documents replaced, we also had our belongings scanned. It seemed that our appearances were not the only things that could've been masked with magic, but also our items. As so, the cloaked man scanned every bit of our luggage to find anything suspicious, only to find out that we didn't have anything, in particular, to be worried about. We did have to go out of our way to explain as to why Kalene seemed to have some nice, fancy looking skirts, tops, and dresses, however, as the old man became suspicious as to why someone like Kalene could afford to have such high-quality clothing. Fortunately for us, we managed to sell another little story as to why she had them, although, to be quite honest, it was probably the Phantom Company's magic on us that did the work for us.

When our evaluation was finally over, we were then granted official entry. As so, afterward, Kalene and I found ourselves wandering about throughout the Amali Road while checking out the various shops, homes, restaurants, workshops, and inns that were all around. One thing I learned very quickly, which shouldn't have been a surprise, is that the Sevali Union is an astoundingly large place. We wandered about only walking straight through the Amali Road for about fifteen minutes and we were nowhere near reaching the end of it. Not only that but throughout the length of the road we walked by countless intersections of walkways where we could've steered in various directions. The entire place seemed like a labyrinth more than anything with how much there was everywhere.

"Ozone, this is Disciple 1-Actual, I need to talk to you, over." I began suddenly. Due to our leisure walk, I almost forgot that I was supposed to notify my guide that I was now inside of the Sevali.

"This is Ozone, talk to me, over." He responded almost instantly.

"Ozone, my partner and I are inside the Sevali, over."

"Understood. Have there been any issues so far? Over."

"None as far as I can tell. We passed through fine without any particular suspicion to our names, over."

"Understood. Your objective now is to make your way into the Droideir District and register yourselves in an inn called 'Red Rosary'. As part of your mission, you'll have a room already booked for your stay with your cover names, so all you have to do is prove your identities and you should be fine. Inside your room, you'll link up with Scarecrow 1-3 to ready up for your first shift at your jobs. Be sure to get this done before 4:30 PM or you'll start running behind your schedule. Understood? Over."

"Understood, over."

"Copy. Relay to me once you've linked up with Scarecrow 1-3 and are ready for your first shift. Ozone, out." I looked at my watch and took notice that it was nearing 3:30 PM, meaning that we didn't have much time to leisure about anymore considering how much ground we may have to cover. As so, using my MIDT, I began making my way to the Droideir District to accomplish our next objective which was about two and a half kilometers away. Kalene, like usual, followed close, although her attention stayed on surveying the environment as we walked.

"This place... Something about it seems worse than before." Kalene mentioned suddenly.

"How so?"

"The people. They're quiet, way too quiet, even for this place."

"Are they?" Her statement prompted me to look all around, letting my gaze cross the grand amount of people that were all placed about. In a way, even though I couldn't relate to what her concern was, I was able to understand that perhaps Kalene was right. I hadn't noticed before due to my lack of social awareness, but everyone was indeed far too quiet. It was so silent that I was only able to hear the individual footsteps of those who walked and even the whispers of those who spoke, courtesy of my heightened sense of hearing. It was unbecoming of a place teeming with occupants, especially when it wasn't like this when we had initially arrived. "What do you think it means?"

"I don't know. We aren't standing out, so that's good for us. However, something about this entire place seems off. Even for this district's culture, everyone is being way too restrained. Back when I was here, it was normal for you to hear groups of people chatting loudly as they went through their day. Now, people are just walking, or whispering as if they're trying to keep a secret."

"I see... Well, let's just hope this all doesn't mean anything. Right now, we have our mission to be preoccupied with and our concerns shouldn't even lie anywhere within this district."

"Yeah. Let's hope." _Don't get me wrong Kalene, I now feel your concern._

* * *

When I was told there was a divide between all of the districts, I thought the idea was simply metaphorical, as in, it was referring to the socioeconomic statuses of the residents only with some acknowledgment of the poor quality of the land about. Instead, I found myself realizing that there was, indeed, a pure divide of the districts. When Kalene and I were nearing Droideir, we were able to see a literal divide in quality between the land, buildings, and people. Droideir, when compared to Amali, was far more somber as most of the buildings seemed broken down, weak, and colorless. Not only that, but the residents all wore clothing that were, in some combination, either dirty, tarnished, or ill-fitted. The ground itself was also nothing but mud, dirt, and gravel with absolutely no pavement anywhere, not even in some buildings. Some of the residents seemed to be dirtied up entirely, looking as if they haven't even showered in their lifetime, and some buildings were barricaded in places where a door or window would've been. Hell, there were even buildings that were missing walls entirely. Even though we walked in with dirty clothes ourselves, somehow we managed to look cleaner than everyone and everything around.

As we walked into Droideir, almost everyone in the Amali District began looking at Kalene and me with a bewildered look on their faces, almost as if they thought we were insane to have done such a thing. On the other hand, I don't know how desperate the people of Droideir were, but considering how quickly and often our luggage was being eyeballed, it made me wonder if our briefcases looked like bricks of gold to their eyes. If the people weren't giving us stares of surprise or desperation, then they were staring at us as if they were ready to just rob us on the spot and take everything from us. Luckily, as suspicious or questionable everyone looked, no one approached us at all as we walked through the open streets. Still, their ill-intents were not missed by me every time we took a step.

Without a doubt, though, the one thing everyone was staring at the most was Kalene. Without any exaggeration intended, Kalene must've been the most beautiful being around in the whole district so far as almost every man looked at her as if she was a meal, while almost every woman looked at her with pure jealousy. Kalene, of course, did not miss any of this attention as she looked around, and perhaps, to avoid some of it, she decided to walk right next to me, almost glued to me. I don't know what her intentions were, but it didn't yield any results as the looks and their amount remained the same. Still, the action she chose seemed to cause her to feel less tense, so for her sake, I let her walk by me, mostly because I had no reason to deny her otherwise.

After about twenty minutes of walking and bearing with the unwanted attention in Droideir, Kalene and I finally made it to the Red Rosary inn, which, contrary to how Droideir looked to us, was surprisingly... _proper_. Well, I doubt the word proper is the right one to use, but the inn seemed to be in one, complete, fully functioning piece as it had no visible breakage, fortification, or filth. The building was made out of wood and stone and was about three stories worth of height. It was big and at the front, it had a terrace that had grass with flowers surrounding a singular pavement pathway that leads to the front entrance. From the ground level, you could see into the first floor due to multiple panels of glass that were on the front wall. Inside, I was able to see multiple chairs, tables, and people who were sitting about and eating some meals with the occasional waiter or waitress walking about.

Everything inside didn't look grand by any means as the entire dining area was nothing more than regular wooden tables and chairs laying about. The people weren't anything amazing themselves either as everyone was relatively dirty with no signs of any type of formal wear anywhere to be seen. Of course, although the environment wasn't grand in of itself, when compared to the rest of Droideir so far, the inn and its people looked like royalty with elegance to their names.

Since we had now found our destination, I made my way inside with Kalene following close, making my way to the front counter where a hostess was standing by. Almost immediately she noticed our presence and gave us a welcoming smile.

"Hello! Welcome to the Red Rosary Inn! Are you here to eat or to stay? Or both?" She asked with a lively voice.

"We have a reservation here to stay," I answered.

"Alright, what are your names?"

"Castada Alphanier and Kalene Alphanier."

"Castada Alphanier... Castada Alphanier..." The hostess began flipping between pages in a notebook that she had in front of her on the counter. "... Alphanier... Alphan- Ah! Here we go! A room for Castada Alphanier and Kalene Alphanier. Can I see some ID to verify your identities, please?"

"Understood." Following her request, Kalene and I showed her our ID cards which she used to confirm our identities. Once she seemed satisfied, she then returned them to us.

"Alright, so here are your keys..." She reached under the counter momentarily before popping back up with two sets of keys. She then proceeded to hand me one set and Kalene the other. "... Your room is on the third floor, up the stairs to your left, all the way down the hall. It has the name C16 so you should be able to identify it easily. If you have any questions, please feel free to come here and talk to me. If you would like to eat anything, feel free to talk to me about that too, although, please remember that our food comes with a separate cost. Your room, starting next week, will cost you exactly five silver coins, so please have your payment ready, and don't be late in giving it. Please enjoy your stay!" She finished.

Having had understood her explanation, Kalene and I began walking over to the stairs and up to our room where it was exactly as it was described to us. Without hesitation, I used my key to open the door up, prompting us both to walk inside afterward before I closed the door and locked it behind us.

Upon our first look, our room was quite spacious as it had a closet to the left, a bathroom to the right, a table and multiple chairs in the front middle of the room, with a king-sized bed to the far back. Next to our bed were a couple of small stands with drawers where we could place small items inside. On the back wall, multiple windows were covered with a jet black curtain that could be pulled or tied, hiding our room from the outside if we wished. As Kalene and I walked around and inspected the place, I noticed that the floor was not creaking at all and that the wood everywhere was exceptionally clean and in top condition. The bathroom was also surprisingly roomy as I was able to roam around alongside Kalene without getting in each other's way.

It seemed that the Phantom Company had gotten us quite a comfortable and luxurious room for our mission, although, it was expensive as a result. Five silver coins were a high price to pay as inside our briefcases we only had ten silver coins to our names. Unless our temporary jobs got us decent money or we completed our mission quickly, we would be out of here within two to three weeks from the rent alone. Well, I doubt money will be a problem for us as Valkyrie did say that we would be provided enough funds to carry out our mission here.

After I finished inspecting our room with Kalene, I took to putting my briefcase aside and sitting down on one of the chairs by our table. On the other hand, it seemed that Kalene took to unpacking her clothes and setting them up in our closet, causing me to take notice of the various fashionable dresses, skirts, and tops that had almost got us in trouble back at our evaluation. It was clear from the clothes alone that Kalene's job would be far more... _classy_ than mine since my clothes were all nothing but casual wear. It seems that her future job as a waitress must be quite the operation if that's the type of clothes she was going to wear.

Since she was occupied handling her clothes, I decided to place my attention on contacting Ozone as I was told to earlier, only because I noticed that my attention on Kalene was starting to make her restless. "Disciple 1-Actual to Ozone, come in, over." I requested.

"Disciple 1-Actual, this is Ozone, I hear you, over." He responded.

"I've arrived at the inn with my partner and we're setting ourselves up here, over."

"Understood. Standby for further instruction, out." For a good moment, I was left to myself, looking at my watch and taking note that it was 4:23 PM, meaning that we were on schedule as instructed.

"Scarecrow 1-3, this is Disciple 1-2, I'm here... over." Kalene suddenly spoke up, taking my attention. At first, after her acknowledgment, she stayed quiet, listening to her relay. Soon after, however, she spoke up again. "Understood. I'll be waiting for you, over."

"Disciple, by 5:15 PM, you are to relay to me after you arrive and sign yourself in at Reaver's Farmership for your first shift. You'll be working there from 5:15 PM up until 3:00 AM. In that time, work to establish connections for intelligence on your target, Zair Reaver, and try to achieve a minimal profile to the best of your ability. Not only that but throughout your shift, you are tasked with analyzing the environment of your workplace along with identifying details that I will request of you periodically. For the most part, today you will only be responsible for reconnaissance on your workplace, however, if possible, we request that you also give us a report on the district area on the way your workplace. This objective is optional, so if you are not capable of completing it thoroughly, don't worry about it. That all being said, have I been clear? Over." Ozone instructed me suddenly.

"Clear. I understood you, over."

"Copy. From this point forward, you are on your own Disciple 1. We'll be standing by for your reports. Good luck. Out." Ozone tapped out.

Suddenly behind me, there was a knock on our door, startling me slightly as a result. Afterward, I got up and made my way to it, opening it up slightly only to lay my eyes on a platinum-blonde haired woman who was smiling from the get-go eye-level with me. She was wearing a black tight vest above a white fitted button-up dress shirt that was tucked into a black skirt. Not only that, but she was also wearing black stockings, black high-heels, and a black skinny tie on her chest, making her look quite... flashy if anything. It was an attire I wasn't expecting to see as her overall look caught me slightly off guard. " _Scarecrow 1-3, reporting to meet with Disciple 1-2._ " She whispered.

"Understood." I opened the door all the way and took a couple of steps back, granting her some space for entry which she took. Almost like a child she then began walking around our room and looking all over.

"Well, isn't this a nice room you two got? Makes me envious seeing how mine is shabby compared to it." She complimented as she looked around the room, disregarding Kalene and me momentarily. "Valkyrie must have a soft spot for you already Disciple 1-A, that's for sure." She said as she then turned to me. Afterward, without any words, she then approached me closely, meeting me eye-level within my personal space, causing me unease as a result. " _You must be quite a person if that's the case. It makes me wonder as to why that is_." She whispered into my ear as she laid her hands on my chest. _What are you, a Valkyrie reincarnate? Where's my personal space?_

"I see... Nice to make your acquaintance, Scarecrow 1-3..." I said composedly, trying to disregard the sudden physical development.

" _Likewise_..." She whispered into my ear again. "... Anyways..." Suddenly she clapped her hands together and took multiple steps away from me before she turned around to face Kalene. "... It's about time we get started Kalene. You need to suit yourself up before we start our shift." She instructed as she walked over to her. Suddenly, almost as if she was a machine, she picked out all of the clothing from Kalene's luggage that matched her attire almost instantly, and laid it all about on our bed, showcasing each piece of clothing. Just as I had seen on Scarecrow 1-3, on the bed there was a black skinny tie, a black vest, a white button-up shirt, black stockings, a pair of black high-heels, and a black skirt, along with what seemed to be... black underwear? _Black underwear? Do the colors have to match all the way through in her uniform? Also, what type of uniform even is that? Wasn't she supposed to be a waitress? What type of waitress dresses like that? Do waitresses dress like that? The ones in this inn don't. What type of place are you two going to work at?_

Due to the sudden development, I figured that Kalene was about to begin changing. As so, to give the two women some space and privacy, I decided to turn around and began making my way out of our room. "I'm leaving Kalene. Good luck." Was all I said as I made my way out.

"You too." Was all I heard from her before I closed the door behind me. Afterward, as I walked down the hallway and the stairs, I found myself sighing for some reason. Somehow, Scarecrow 1-3's presence exhausted me within the few minutes she was around. Perhaps it was because her behavior was simply too much like Valkyrie's, but something about her made me tense and rigid at heart. Then again, I've been tense the entire day today due to my newfound job, so I wouldn't be surprised if my stress had simply built up too much. Now that I'm not in my village, I haven't been able to unwind and catch a moment of true peace.

_Black underwear though?_

Somehow that irrelevant fact kept me slightly distracted as I left the inn. _What the hell is wrong with me?_

* * *

I spent my free time wandering about Droideir, trying to gauge what the overall community is like and to see what type of services were being provided around. At the moment I was inside a blacksmith shop, looking at some weapons that were on display in a corner of the store. There were multiple iron swords hung up on the wall in front of me, although, for items that were on display, their quality was not great. Just from giving the swords a glimpse, I was able to spot multiple cracks and spots of rust on the blades, and the hilts were nearly non-existent as the leather materials were mostly ripped and worn out. The worst part was that each sword cost two silver coins, making them overpriced for their worth.

Perhaps it was my infatuation with smithing, but seeing such pitiful creations on sale brought me some sort of displeasure. Nonetheless, I tried to keep the feeling from staying within me since expecting to see anything better around here was simply a pipe dream. Apart from the swords, I took to looking at some tools and armor too, which were no better in quality than the weapons around. The tools were made out of wood and stone, and the armor was simply made of leather, although ripped and stretched. As much as I wanted to complain about the work though, it was obvious to me that the overall quality in the shop is not just a result of low skill in smithing, but also the fault of poor materials being used, which is understandable. No matter how good you are, if your materials or tools are horrible, your creations won't be any better than they are, and in this type of place, I doubt better materials are at hand.

"Disappointed are you?" I heard a curious male voice behind me. As a result, I turned around to notice a tall, muscular man with no hair but a hefty beard. He was sweaty and was wearing both a loose grey t-shirt and green cargo pants. He had cuts and burn marks all over his arms and hands, and his clothes seemed stained with coal.

"Somewhat," I replied honestly without hesitation, prompting a smirk from the man.

"I see. Such creations are quite miserable, aren't they? I can only imagine how much disappointment they must bring to a swordsman like you." He commented as looked at the swords on the wall in front of me with a solemn look.

"Swordsman like me?"

"Yeah, a swordsman like you. I can tell that you are familiar with such weapons from your hands. They're rough and callused, signs of the number of times you have swung them and tampered with them. I have confidence in that I have an eye for such things in a person, you know?" He answered as he pointed at my hands, causing me to look at them. "How long have you wielded swords in your lifetime?"

"No time at all." My answer caused the man to chuckle.

"Nay. You're lying. I can tell."

"I can't tell you any different."

"Well, if you haven't wielded any, then surely you've tampered with or created some then?"

"No."

"I see. Well, for someone who's never done such things, you seem quite interested in this shop, don't you think? I'm quite inclined to say that perhaps you're even a little suspicious to eyeball these things here like you are. You're not here to commit a crime, are you?" _He got me_.

"Fine. I do have some experience." I admitted.

"Ah, there you go. So, how much time have you spent wielding a sword?"

"A couple of years at most I'd say."

"How about tending to them?"

"Just as long I think."

"Ooh, that's plenty of time. Since you've got a lot of time and experience, what do you think of these swords then? What do you think made them go bad?" He asked as he pointed at the swords on the wall. _I thought people in this place didn't speak a lot._

_"_ The materials, they aren't good, neither were they plentiful..." I began my assessment. "... I can tell that these swords were made from rationed iron as they are too thin and flattened. The fact that they're cracked suggests that they were mistreated during the heat treatment too, if not after, probably a result of trying to stretch the iron far more than it could. Most of these swords are as good as not even existing as not even a polisher could correct them. Their spines are cracked due to too much banging on the blade, and the rust means that they aren't even looked after once they were made. At most, these swords could only poison their target, assuming they don't break before they can."

"I see... I see... And what do you suggest to be done so that the swords can be improved?"

"Well, these, as I said, are as good as not existing. For the most part, the biggest noticeable issue here is the lack of proper materials. You can't do much to make or correct if you don't have the proper materials to do so."

"I understand. In that case, what about this sword then? What do you think of it?" Suddenly the man signaled me to follow him, and afterward, he lead me to the main counter in the store where he walked behind it and lifted an encased sword. When he unsheathed it, he revealed a more full iron sword, albeit slightly bent and only slightly cracked at the blade. The blade itself, however, was darker and rough, meaning the sword itself is likely to be very rigid, perhaps too rigid. It could be used, and its quality is already kilometers ahead of the swords on the wall, but it still could be improved.

"Not bad, but I can tell that this sword was most likely too hot during the heat treatment. The metal is essentially scorched, and I can bet that the maker tried to shape it quickly due to the excessive heat having had brought the metal's hardness far too much and far too quickly. It can still be used, so it's better than other swords already, but it isn't great by any means."

"Interesting... I see. How hot should have the blade been then?"

"That is hard to say when I wasn't there to see the process happen. The amount of heat depends on what you have to cool it down, what you're using to heat it, and what type of materials you're using in general. At most, I can only say that since the metal is scorched, the maker should be a lot more careful about how hot the blade is before they begin meddling with it. To me, it looks like this blade must've been red hot by the time they chose to work on it, which makes the blade far too hot to temper. More heat brings out the hardness of the metal quicker, so if they remember this and practice, they should be able to nail when they should start working on it. For the most part, since the sword seems to be made out of iron, it should be hot enough when the blade is red-orangeish if they desire the blade to be more rigid-like, or around orangeish only if they desire the blade to have some flexibility and to be thinner than regular. Not only that, but I would also say that when it's time to cool the blade down, they should cool it down slowly, perhaps even naturally, otherwise, those cracks are likely to show up again because the blade becomes too brittle."

"Interesting, you've taught me so much." The man commented.

"I figured you were the blacksmith here. Your look gives it away easily." I said as I kept looking at the scorched iron sword.

"Haha! Yes, as obvious as your skill in swordsmanship I'd say! I appreciate the advice you've given me. I recently got a shipment of iron, but because I had never gotten great amounts to work with, I was struggling to figure out what to do to improve due to a fear of wasting it, but you've helped me. Say, what's your name? I'd like to remember it." The man smiled as he began putting the black iron sword away.

"Castada. Castada Alphanier."

"Castada, eh? My name's Nathaniel Vala, but those who know me just call me Vala. Say, if you're free any time in the future, you mind coming by to check on my skill? You seem very knowledgable and I'd like it if I had some guidance here." He asked.

"I'm not an official blacksmith you know?"

"Who said you were?" He returned, causing me to smirk.

"I'll see if I have the time." Was all I said before I started to make my way out of his store.

"We'll see about that!" He exclaimed as I left the building.

_I thought people around here were going to be miserable and evil. I guess it was wrong of me to generalize so much_.

As I stood in front of the shop, I turned around and faced the giant sign that was on the building, which read 'Vala's Valiant Hardware'.

_I can't believe a man like that picked such a name for his store._

* * *

_Destination: Reaver's Farmership (78%)_

After wandering about Droideir, I found myself nearing my timetable deadline. As a result, I was now heading towards Reaver's Farmership where I would begin my first day at my _job_. As I made my way over to my destination, however, I noticed that the farther I traveled, the more... _severe_ the streets and people of Droideir seemed to become. Slowly, little by little, I would start to see more and more broken down buildings, and after a while, I started to simply find nothing more than just rubble where a building would have been. As so, you would find small tents and camps laying about on the dirt streets where people would reside in, half the time, without any clothes or even food. If anything, everyone I was starting to run into was essentially homeless. When compared to the scenery around me, I must've looked like royalty as I had cleaner clothing and a bag to call my own.

Apart from the scenery having been continuously deteriorating as I walked, the people and their behavior were following a similar trend. The farther I walked, I was more likely to run into people who were laying on the ground, completely skinny and stripped of their strength as they would beg for food or money.

"Please... do you... have... food... food... please?" One man asked me desperately as I walked by, causing me discomfort as I had nothing to provide him.

"Money... I need... money... money... money... money..." Another man chanted, almost hysterically as if he had lost all rationale.

"Food... food... for me... for you... we all... need food..." Some people would sing to themselves as if they're trying to retain their sanity.

"I... just... want... food... just... food... food... just... food..." An emaciated woman whispered painfully to herself as she laid on the ground, scratching it as if she was digging for gold.

If the people here weren't speaking as if they were insane, then they would do something to gesture their desires, usually by clapping their hands or drawing into the ground. Some weren't even begging me for food or money, instead, they were just laying in the ground or staring at a pile of rubble emptily as if they were statues. Others were sick too as they coughed or wheezed but would do nothing to help themselves since they had nothing that could. Hell, once I had walked long enough, I started to spot dead bodies in the middle of the open, some of which had already rotted away or were in the middle of doing so. The land had become more of a graveyard than a city at all.

As if the visuals weren't bad enough, the smell wasn't any better. Just as you'd expect, the only thing that invaded my nose was the smell of rotting flesh. If it wasn't flesh, then it was the smell of piss or shit that fucked me up instead. I was not one bit hesitant to declare that this entire part of Droideir was hazardous with all of the putrid mess laying around. I wouldn't be surprised if I were to find a monster wandering around here with how little civilization, light, or proper sanitization was in place. Perhaps some monsters did spawn here due to all of these deficits in quality. Who knows? I don't want to find out, that's for sure, especially when I don't have any weapons on me.

To say that this entire area is depressing is a tremendous understatement. This entire area signaled of neglect, failure, and perhaps even exploitation. Considering the nature of the 'residents' around, it was probable that they have been manipulated or completely broken. After all, as miserable as they were, I didn't see one bit of complaints or questioning of their situation, only a passive acceptance and craving for peace and stability. These people have had their wills burned away, and now, as a result, they lie around, letting themselves die and rot away.

The person or people responsible for this tragic environment are nothing short of inhumane. Even the tiniest amount of humanity in a person would keep something like this from happening, and yet, here it all was. It was obvious that the ones accountable for this have no care in the world for this place. Hell, if anything, I'm wondering as to how the fuck all of this even happened? How much apathy is required to run an entire section of a district into the dirt? How much power is needed to continue something like this? Is this what Droideir is really about? The starvation and death of people who aren't capable of having better? This damn area looks like hell compared to the rest of Droideir, and the rest of Droideir was supposed to be a nightmare. For a district where I'm supposed to be worried about being assaulted or robbed, I've found myself surprised at how despondent I've become instead. This shit is inexplicable above all.

After trying to bear the poor atmosphere as I walked for several minutes, I managed to near my destination without losing my sanity along the way. In front of me was nothing more than an empty road with nothing around other than one big building directly ahead, labeled 'Reaver's Farmership'. Behind the building, however, I was able to spot completely healthy and green grass with a plethora of vegetation all about. The scenery was so... _different_ that I had to do a double-take to make sure that I wasn't going crazy from everything I had just walked by. I genuinely thought I was hallucinating due to the strict contrast between the entire cast of land behind the building from the land I had walked on.

After having had laid my eyes on the strict disparity that was the land located behind my destination, the dots in my head connected without pause. It was clear that my place of work is responsible for the state of the land and the people I've witnessed. There was no mistake about it. The question was, how the hell did all of this happen? It must be quite an operation if it somehow managed to break and ruin an entire section of a district to the ground like this.

" **Disciple 1-Actual, this is Ozone, come in, over**." Suddenly Ozone rang my ear, forcing me out of my wonderment. Almost instantly I noticed my display glow between red and orange, signifying that my current transmission request was an Emergency Relay.

"Ozone, this is Disciple 1-Actual, I'm here, over," I responded after getting my bearings.

"Disciple 1-Actual, be advised, you are to **abandon** your current objective and are to make your way to your newly marked destination. **I repeat** , you are to **abandon** your current objective and are to make your way to your newly marked destination. Disciple 1-2 and Scarecrow 1-3 have relayed a hostile combat encounter and **require your immediate assistance**. You are now tasked as their **reinforcement** for their emergency. **I repeat** , Disciple 1-2 and Scarecrow 1-3 have relayed a hostile combat encounter and **require your immediate assistance** , Ozone, out." Ozone relayed with urgency, sending a shiver up my spine.

"Disciple 1-Actual! This is Scarecrow 1-3! Confirm you are listening to me! Over!" Now it was a female voice that pushed itself into my ear. Just like Ozone's transmission, this one had my display glowing between red and orange, only that this time, the transmission was going to be Listen Only on my end. As so, I had to confirm by picking the option to accept on my display. "Copy! **Be advised** : Disciple 1-2 and I are under attack by unidentified enemy combatants. We're outnumbered and have little to defend ourselves! Make your way over to us quickly. **Please hur-** "

The transmission suddenly cut off.


	11. Droideir's Peril

"Ozone, do you know what is going on exactly!? What type of encounter are Scarecrow 1-3 and Disciple 1-2 in!? Over!" As I ran through the streets of Droideir, I looked at the marked destination in my MIDT trying to track how far away I was. Unfortunately, it seemed that Kalene and Scarecrow 1-3 got caught in something far away from me as my MIDT was telling me that I was about a kilometer out from their location. Even with how fast I was running, it was still going to take me multiple minutes to get there, if not longer if anything gets in the way or gets worse.

"Negative Disciple 1-Actual, I do not know what is happening exactly. Before my relay to you, I received a relay from Scarecrow 1-Actual about Scarecrow 1-3 requesting back up from them. Due to the majority of the Scarecrow squad being already tasked in a different mission altogether, they requested me to send someone in their place. At the moment, you're the only one we have nearby. All I know in regards to this emergency is that Scarecrow 1-3 was requesting offensive back up and is currently reported to be in combat. I do not know who or what she requested help against, neither do I know anything regarding their circumstances, however, it is critical that you assist them in any way you can. Not only that but when you arrive, you are to relay to me the situation for analysis. Over." Ozone explained into my ear as I kept running.

_Fucking hell... I left them alone for almost an hour and something has already gone wrong. What the hell could have happened that caused Scarecrow 1-3 to request backup as an emergency!? Not only that but why the hell have I not heard from Kalene herself!? She's capable of communicating with me, so why did I have to hear this from Ozone or Scarecrow 1-3? Shit... Don't tell me something happened to her. I can't tolerate her getting hurt in the middle of this, not with the way I'm going to get punished if she is._

_**Fuck**! I knew this was going to be a mess from the beginning. Valkyrie better not push my shit in if this goes wrong..._

_Wait, even if I get there, what the fuck am I supposed to do? Valkyrie told me to keep a minimum profile, but if this situation is bad, I won't be able to do such a thing. Am I supposed to fight without mercy? Or am I supposed to hold back somehow? There is no way we'll be able to maintain our cover if I have to go all out to guarantee their safety... Ah fuck it, I'll ask Ozone. I'm sure if I work with his words, the blame won't fall entirely on me._

"Ozone, once I get there, what exactly am I supposed to do? You said that I'll serve as reinforcement, but if I'm to maintain my cover, how exactly am I supposed to pull this off? What are the rules for this type of thing? Over." I asked as I kept tracking the remaining distance to my destination.

"Just do what is necessary. If you are capable of pulling Disciple 1-2 and Scarecrow 1-3 out of the problem while maintaining your cover, then do so. Otherwise, if you think it is helpless and that your cover will be ruined, relay to me so that I can plan an extraction for you all. Regardless of what happens, a mission failure in this scenario is excusable as long as you survive with your teammates. Just make sure that you all are in one piece, especially Disciple 1-2. Regardless of what the problem is, it is of utmost priority that, at the very minimum, Disciple 1-2 is extracted. Over." _I see... Well, if you say so Ozone. I will not tolerate getting my shit pushed in for anything that happens here._

"Understood! I'll see what I can do. Out!" I tapped out.

_Fuck me, fuck all of this._

* * *

_Emergency Location (100%)_

"Creeper! Watch your back! **Watch your back!** " At the far end of the street I was in, I heard a man yell with urgency, causing me to turn in his direction. He was a guardsman that was wearing chained armor and wielding an iron sword, a look that was shared by the numerous men and women that were patrolling or fighting about in the area. He was pointing in the direction of another guardsman that was distracted by a zombie in his view, but unfortunately, as strong and as fast his callout was, it was not enough to save his comrade. Within seconds of his yell, the green quadrupled legged green scaled monster he called out began hissing and lighting up like a torch, and then, within an instant, an explosion roared into my ear.

The explosion rocked the street, destroying it in the process and causing a ginormous crater in the dirt ground where it had blown up. As part of the creeper's accomplishment, I was able to see parts of a nearby building disappear and get blasted away, blowing shrapnel in various directions, impaling multiple guards that were in the area of the blast, causing them all to fall to the floor with blood pouring out of their bodies like fountains. Not only that, but the guardsman that was sneaked upon by the creeper was essentially nonexistent as his only remains were a splatter of blood and the tattered pieces of his organs and body parts laying around. His armor did nothing to shield him, not that it could've.

I had made it to my destination where my MIDT had marked the origin of the emergency, and as so, I was currently running around trying to find Kalene and Scarecrow 1-3. It was clear that this emergency was the result of what seemed to be a monster invasion as there was an endless amount of them. Almost everywhere I faced, I saw either a giant spider, a small poisonous cave spider, a skeleton, a zombie, an enderman, or a creeper walking around, attacking a guard or a civilian that was trying to escape the area. This entire area of Droideir was essentially a battlefield as there was nothing but death everywhere.

_How the hell did all of this happen? I had walked through here before and it was completely calm, or at least, it was as calm as you would expect from Droideir. Now, all of the sudden the entire area is a warzone. Aren't monsters deterred by light or settlements? Is it possible for monsters so spawn in areas like this? No, that can't be. Considering the panic and enforcement taking place, this has to be an anomaly. But if so, then how did it happen? Droideir is far too big for monsters to stroll in, and even if they did, they'd have to cross the security at the border of the entire Sevali Union, if not all of the security within. Even with the lack of security in Droideir, it still wouldn't make sense that they'd be able to stroll through. Not only that, but this entire section is the only part that is under siege right now, which doesn't make any sense as it is unlikely that a wave of monsters would stay in such a concentrated area. Seriously, what the fuck happened here?_

While avoiding all of the chaos going about, I kept searching around for Kelene or Scarecrow 1-3 in the general area of my destination, all while attempting to dodge the various monsters that were tearing the place apart. Doing so was not easy, mostly because I had no armor, putting me at risk against every little bit of danger present. I was, however, capable of requisitioning an iron sword from the ground, only because its original wielder had gotten torn apart by a monster beforehand. The sword was banged and cracked with stains of blood splattered all over it, meaning that its durability was somewhat low already, but that was fine as there was a countless amount of swords lying about anyway, all for the same reasons.

Even though I was searching quickly and thoroughly, I was not able to spot neither Kalene nor Scarecrow 1-3. Of course, it wouldn't have been easy to find them, not in the middle of this tremendous crowd and panic going about. Every corner I turned I would run into a set of guards either fighting, patrolling, hiding, or running away. If it wasn't guards, then it was civilians who were doing the same, if not getting mutilated by the horrors that plagued the city. Not only that, but the sun was already setting, causing darkness to begin settling in, increasing the threat of the monsters about. Even with the torches placed everywhere, there was still a considerable amount of darkness throughout the city, causing some of the monsters to hide in corners and ambush their victims.

Luckily for me, I was more than capable of keeping myself safe, but damn I wished I could say the same about everyone else. It was spine-chilling to hear people scream as their flesh would get bitten or ripped off, that is if they weren't poisoned or impaled by a projectile first. If a person wasn't sitting in the ground getting eaten alive, then they were incapacitated with a hole in their bodies. If they weren't incapacitated, then they were poisoned and sick, dying a slow and painful death as they would throw up or have their breathing stunted, causing them to die from asphyxiation. At best, a poor victim would die a quick and relatively painless death from a creeper that'd blow them up into nothing more than a pile of burnt flesh and organs. At worst, however, they'd survive the explosion and have to lay on the ground for something else to finish them.

As disturbing as my environment was, I did notice, however, that for some reason, I was not deeply affected by the gore and misery I witnessed. Perhaps it was because I have suffered countless injuries myself, or perhaps it was because of my nature as a survivalist that kept my mind busy and indifferent. Regardless of the reason though, the fact that I was not affected by such an experience caused me to question my health mentally. Surely there was something to worry about when I watched people die without care, right?

_What am I even thinking right now? I got more important shit to worry about_.

"Disciple 1-Actual to Disciple 1-2, talk to me. Where are you at? Over," I pulled up my communications display and tried to get a hold of Kalene. Unfortunately, when I tried, I was met with a notification that Kalene was unavailable and in a state of emergency, shutting me out of the option to talk to her momentarily. When I looked over to Kalene's codename box in the name code tree, her box was flashing red and orange with a sign on it that read 'Unavailable: In combat'. When I clicked on it to see if it could give me more information, my MIDT pulled up with the same destination point that I had used earlier, causing me to sigh in frustration since I wasn't getting anywhere near to finding out where she was. "Scarecrow 1-3, this is Disciple 1-Actual, where are you right now? Over." I tried contacting Scarecrow 1-3 instead. Once again though, I was met with the same fruitless results. _Goddammit, come on. Where the hell are you both at!?_

"Disciple 1-Actual to Ozone, I've arrived at the emergency location that was marked on my MIDT. It seems that some sort of monster invasion has occurred in the area as countless monsters are wandering about tearing everyone up. I have no clue as to how it happened, but the situation seems incredibly severe as not even the security here can keep themselves alive. I'm currently looking for Disciple 1-2 and Scarecrow 1-3 but have made no progress. Is there anything you can do to help me here? Over," I requested of Ozone.

"Disciple 1-Actual, this is Ozone. I've heard you loud and clear. Standby for advice, over." Ozone answered my request promptly. For a couple of seconds after his answer, he left me alone, however, thankfully, it seemed that Ozone wasn't planning on taking his time to help me out. "Disciple 1-Actual, be advised, we've managed to tag a tracking location on Scarecrow 1-3. I'm sending it to you now so you can use it. Notify me if it works, over." Suddenly my MIDT pulled up in my view with a new destination point, one that seemed to be moving slowly in the direction opposite of me. Considering the distance and direction, it seemed that Scarecrow 1-3 was close to Vala's Valiant Hardware store, if not far enough to be at the Red Rosary inn instead. Perhaps she'd managed to retreat from this hell hole of a place and is now seeking cover.

"Ozone, I got it. It seems that the tracker is working. I'm on my way to verify the tracker's origin, over."

"Understood Disciple 1-Actual. Relay to me once you've made contact with Disciple 1-2 or Scarecrow 1-3. Ozone, out."

_Alright, I've got a lead now. The question now is: are both of my targets okay? I hope so. I'm sure they're okay. I can't handle anything being otherwise._

* * *

_Scarecrow 1-3's Location Tracker (59%)_

_Agh! Can't you all learn to fuck off!? I got more important things to worry about, you know!? Why are you all even here!?_

At the very moment, I was fighting off a zombie that had tried to grapple me from the front, an attack he committed to after I had cut into his abdomen beforehand when he tried to bite me from my side. To retaliate against his attempt, I countered with a strong horizontal swing leveled with his neck, cleanly slicing the zombie's head off, causing its body to fall limply onto the ground before leaving a puddle of rotten blood on itself. Not too long after his death, the zombie then disintegrated into white particles, only leaving a couple of pieces of its rotten flesh behind.

As I traveled for my new destination, I noticed that I was slowly having to deal with more and more personal encounters with the monsters around, a result due to the lack of prey in their surroundings now. Most of the civilians in the area had either gotten murdered or had escaped, and the guards had either chosen to retreat or die in battle, meaning that now, in these streets, it was only me with the occasional survivor fending for themselves, causing us to gain what is now the tremendous level of attention from the dense number of monsters that were plaguing the district. Stealth at this point was nearly impossible, and evasion was slowly getting eliminated as an option due to how the monsters would begin to occupy all of the space around you as they tried to kill you.

_This is bad, way too bad. This place is going to become a ghost town if it lasts any longer. How has this even lasted this long? How many monsters could have possibly spawned here like this? There seems to be no end to their existence, almost as if they are strictly originating from somewhere in the area. How though? The amount of monsters all over this place gives a similar impression to that of the density of monsters I would run into in the open plains by my home village, but even on those plains, there were fewer monsters than this. They were not as dense in population as they are here in Droideir._

All of a sudden, as I was thinking and recovering from my fight with the zombie, I heard a loud hissing noise from behind, alerting my instincts and causing me to turn around almost instantly, only to notice that an igniting creeper was trying to sneak up on me. Without any delay I proceeded to thrust my sword straight into its lengthy torso, piercing straight through his scaly green exterior and killing him before he had a chance to blow me away. Now, from having had died, he slumped lifelessly on my sword before I pulled away, causing him to plop onto the ground before disintegrating into a small pile of gunpowder.

Without letting me catch a break, a small cave spider tried taking its turn on trying to kill me from my front, however, due to my superior speed and awareness, when it tried to lunge for me to take a bite, I performed a vertical swing downwards straight into its skull, splitting it in half and killing it instantly, causing a pool of dark blue blood to spill all over the ground with some of its residue poison leaking into my sword's blade. Before I knew it, due to my sword having already been mercilessly used for the past twenty minutes or so, the poison caused the already weak metal to decay, destroying the spine of the blade in the process. At this point, I found myself needing a new weapon, one that could hopefully last at least tens worth more of encounters. At this rate, if I kept being interrupted, I would run out of my means of self-defense.

Using my heightened vision in the dark, I made my way over to a dead, purpled, and ruptured human body that was on the ground to pick up a nearby iron sword for use.

_Poor guy. You won't be needing this anymore. Not when you've died from poisoning and bites._

Now that I was armed, I began making my way to my location which was still moving away from me. It seemed that Scarecrow 1-3 must've still been in trouble since she was still moving.

_Shit. I got to hurry. Come on, me. I need to get a leg up on this bullshit._

While trying to maintain a fast pace, I kept fighting the monsters that kept getting in my way, although, as I previously mentioned, due to the scarcity of regular people now, it was becoming more and more common for me to get intercepted by these damned demons. Slowly, little by little, my opponent count per encounter would go up, and before I knew it, just when I had developed a decent pace, I found myself surrounded by a considerable swarm of monsters.

_Come on, you're fucking with me here. Give me a break at least..._

Around me were about thirty zombies, seventeen giant spiders, about ten cave spiders, and a couple of skeletons, all of which were focused on me. Without any self-restraint, all of them were making their way over to me slowly but surely, releasing all of their signatures sounds in the process to alert me of their intents. At this point, I found myself needing to stop holding back. There were too many monsters, and if I wanted to get out of this place alive, I needed to fight with more vigor. To fight with more vigor meant that I would have to display some of my innate abilities, meaning that if anyone catches me using them, I'd blow away my cover as a regular civilian. After all, when you consider how many people have died so far simply trying to fight one monster or two, I doubt I'd look normal if I survived an entire swarm by myself, especially with what my abilities can do.

Luckily, since I was the only one seemingly around, perhaps I could get away with trying at full force, or at least, using some of my full force. Still, I found myself hesitating. I wanted to make sure I could get away with this with as little attention as possible. It would benefit me greatly if I can stay undercover for as long as I can if I am meant to continue my mission here.

"Ozone, this is Disciple 1-Actual. I need some advice. Over." I figured if I asked Ozone for advice, I might be able to have an easier time making my choice. After all, he's my leading guide here.

"Disciple 1-Actual, this is Ozone. What is it? Over."

"Ozone, the monster presence in this district is starting to get unbearable. Due to the growing shortage of people around, I'm finding myself having to fight way too many things at once. I won't be able to keep myself alive and running if I keep holding back. I want to go all out, but it might cost me my cover. Please advise, over." Momentarily at first, I was met with silence. This pause, as a result, caused some angst within me as it made me worry about what I had requested. After all, to ask for permission to risk my cover is essentially me asking to risk mission failure.

"Copy Disciple 1-Actual, you're granted combat permission to go all out. Relay to me any results afterward or if you've been found out. Clear? Over." _Oh, say no more..._

_"_ Understood. I'll be employing full combat capability. I'll relay to you any important results. Disciple 1-Actual, out." _Alright, here we go..._

As the swarm of monsters kept getting close, I suddenly jabbed my sword into the ground in front of me, impaling it into the dirt right by my feet. The action kicked some dust up to my waist, dirtying me from below completely. Not only that, but my action also managed to cause a couple of the leading zombies in the swarm to flinch, stopping them in place and as a result, stopping the entire swarm momentarily.

_Good, good... feel the pressure... feel the fear..._

I removed my left hand from my sword's hilt and then proceeded to hold my hands together in front of my chest, all while I closed my eyes and calmed my breathing to a slow, peaceful pace. I needed a clear mind to allow myself to prepare.

**_Focus on yourself..._ **

**_Fixate on your desires..._ **

**_Maintain peace..._ **

**_Maintain control..._ **

After my initial chant, I split my hands apart, and in one sudden motion, I clapped them together, producing a wide and red-ish blast to emerge from them and outward into my surroundings, stunning all of the enemies in place momentarily as they tried to get their bearings back.

**_Feel no fear..._ **

**_Feel no hesitation..._ **

**_Feel the power..._ **

**_Feel the potential..._ **

Once again, I clapped my hands together, causing another blast, one that was stronger. This one was so strong that the monsters at the front of the swarm fell backward onto the ground, nearly getting crushed by the sheer force of the blast itself.

**_Crave the desire to fight..._ **

**_Long for the desire to resist..._ **

Very slowly, I separated my hands again, all while I calmly opened my eyes to reveal a red-tinted vision that was pulsating yellows lines outwards towards all of the individuals around me. They were highlighted bright yellow as a result, marking them to my mind as I analyzed every single one of them. I was able to hear every little sound and I was able to feel even the tiniest movement from the monsters, all of which were a result of my instincts having had grown potent and sharp.

**_Fight with prowess..._ **

**_Fight with intent..._ **

Suddenly, around my body, I was beginning to emit a brightish red patterned light, a light that was somewhat similar to the light that regenerated me when I was injured. However, unlike the regenerative light, this new light on me was not a simple bright light that shined strongly in a dedicated place, but instead, it was a more so one that seemed like a chain of details that seemed engraved all over my body like an ornamental design, similar to the way my Phantom Company brand looked on my left arm. This new light wrapped all over my body, decorating me as if I was a canvas for the brand. The new light pulsated slightly and had a waving effect, an effect that was similar to that of a wave in an ocean. Its detailing was rougher but still intricate, containing spiky waves and a design that was akin to that of fire on my skin.

**_Show no regret..._ **

**_Show no grief..._ **

In sync with my heartbeat, this patterned light on my skin was beginning to pulsate strongly, slowly getting darker in shade but stronger in luminosity. Little by little, its color began to change from a bright red to a darker crimson red, making me look as if I was bleeding the light out of my skin.

**_Show no attrition..._ **

**_Show no weakness..._ **

Now, in tandem with my mind's chants, the patterned red brand throughout my body began to emit a growing waving visual on my skin, a visual that looked... just like fire... a fire that was rising from my skin.

**_Show no grace_...**

The flames on me grew taller, stronger, and intensely, shrouding me within them little by little as a result. Within seconds I was masked beneath a raging red cover of flames on my body, flames that looked ready to burn anything in their path. They shined fiercely and crackled loudly, showcasing their tremendous desire to burn.

**_Show no mercy_**...

Suddenly, in an instant, just as I had chanted the last line, the flames on my body erupted outward as a wave and lit up all of the monsters around me completely on fire, causing them all to begin screeching and screaming their pain into the air. Their bodies were enveloped in the crimson red flames, scorching them all into ash within seconds, not giving them a single chance to survive in any way, shape, or form. Before I knew it, not even a single one of my opponents was alive, but instead, only had the cinders of their remains as proof that they were here. Just like that, I had gotten rid of all of the demons that had threatened me earlier.

_Good, that was perfect. Now that I get to go all out, this will be significantly easier._

Having had accomplished my goal, I picked up my wedged iron sword, noticing that the second I laid my hand on it, the entire weapon was turned jet black with red engravings infused into the metal of the blade, engravings that were exactly like the ones on my body at the moment. Not too long after this initial change, the sword became enveloped in the same crimson fire that was all over my body, setting it aflame. However, while it was on fire, it was not getting burnt or melted, but instead, it seemed that the flames had imbued themselves on my weapon, making my sword its host.

_Good, this is the type of strength that I needed... however... I don't think I need to try this hard. If anything, this amount of power is exactly what I need to hide if I want to keep my cover. I need to tone myself down a bit, otherwise, it'll render everything I've done so far pointless._

I closed my eyes again and tried to calm my power down by focusing on my desire to be free of any signs of it. As a result, I felt my power dwindle slightly, although not by much. Not only that, but when I opened my eyes again, I noticed that I was no longer on fire, neither did I have any engravings on me. My sword was also back to looking normal too, so it was no longer conspicuous. However, while I no longer looked like a searing demon myself, I still felt energized as a couple of test swings from my sword showed a significant increase in speed and power. My instincts were also still heightened and my vision was still pulsating, looking for something to tag in my view.

As a result of it all, I was now satisfied since I had remained empowered while also maintaining a relatively inconspicuous demeanor.

_Alright, time to get a move on. This should be significantly easier than before..._

* * *

_Scarecrow 1-3's Location Tracker (90%)_

_This is getting severely out of hand now. Why are they all of the way out here? I know for sure that this place was clear before..._

I had managed to cover most of the remaining distance to Scarecrow 1-3's tracker relatively quickly due to my empowerment, and now, as a result, I was only a couple of minutes away from what was supposed to be her current location. Unfortunately, even though I had managed near my current destination, it came to my attention that there were now monsters all over this section of Droideir too. This fact was more than enough to cause me angst as they shouldn't have gotten this far. The fact that they had meant that their numbers have grown too strong and that they were failed to be suppressed by the security around. At this rate, if this monster invasion is not abolished, it would not be long before the entirety of Droideir is overrun, and it won't be too long after that before the Amali District is caught within it too.

" **Ava!** " As I ran down the current street I was on, I suddenly heard a man's voice scream into the air with exasperation, forcing me to turn in his direction behind me. Once I did, I noticed that there was a moderate cluster of six spiders and seven zombies that had grouped up by a broken-down house to my left. The man himself was a couple of meters to the right of that swarm, fighting off a different group of five giant spiders that were all trying to bite him. When I investigated the situation further, I managed to sense a small presence past the initial group of monsters, and with a little more analysis, I noticed that there was a small girl that was trapped by them. She was unarmed, as expected, and was sheltering herself using her hands as she was sitting on the floor, trying to keep herself from crying. She was shocked in place, not reacting externally to the demons that were about to make a meal out of her.

Without thinking, I made my way over to the bigger swarm first, initiating combat with them suddenly. With barely any effort, I sliced and diced every single zombie and spider that was there, most of which were incapable of defending themselves against me. My swings with my sword were like a hot knife through butter when I made contact with their bodies as every single time I attacked, I sliced through them with perfection, killing them instantly without a sound coming out of their voices. Before I knew it, all of the monsters in the bigger swarm were dead as they had fallen lifelessly on the ground, clashing and mixing in one another's blood and body parts before they perished into white dust on the floor.

Right as I had finished there, I looked over to the right and performed the same acts of extermination on the group of spiders that were harassing the panicked man, killing them all with swings to their heads, shattering their skulls, and dicing their brains apart before they perished as their companions had beforehand. In no more than a minute, I had cleared out all of the monsters in the area, causing my two witnesses to stare at me with a jarred expression on their faces, almost as if they had a hard time believing what they had seen.

"Get her out of here quickly, or else this is going to happen to you again," I spoke to the man who was bathed in sweat and rotten blood, all while I pointed at the little girl who had gone out of her way to close the distance between her and him.

"T-thank you! Thank you for saving me and my daughter... thank you... thank you so much!" Suddenly, he bowed his head down to me with tears running down his face, displaying both his gratitude and the fear that had previously taken over him. "I would have lost her if it wasn't for you. Please... tell me your name... I'd like to thank you later if I can." He then requested as his voice shook between his words.

"Raise your head old man, I only did what was natural for me to do..." I brushed off his gratitude, causing him to look at me in the eye as he followed my instruction. "... If it matters for you to know, my name is Castada Alphanier," I answered before I turned away from him. "Now... do yourself a favor and get out of here. You don't have the time to sit there and act as if you're clear of danger." I said as I then proceeded to run again for my destination.

Due to my haste, I didn't bother to check thoroughly behind me whether he was okay himself, neither did I bother to check the surrounding areas for monsters. I had my task at hand, and I didn't want to waste any more time. I'm sure with the lighter amount of monsters here he'd survive, especially with the conviction and emotion he showed.

_So much for not trying to get attention... What am I trying to be here? A hero?..._

* * *

_Scarecrow 1-3's Location Tracker (100%)_

_There we go, finally..._

After all of my efforts, I had finally managed to lay my eyes on the two people I was looking for amid the chaos around. They were together by themselves in front of the Red Rosary inn with Scarecrow 1-3 sitting down on the patio and Kalene standing in front of her, seemingly checking her over. They were occupied within themselves and seemed exhausted as their movements were fatigued. I took notice that Scarecrow 1-3 was injured too, most prominently on her right leg as she had a large stained bandage wrapped around her right thigh. Not only that, but her clothes were generally torn as her dress shirt was opened up and ripped by the stomach, her black skirt was ripped a little from the bottom, barely working as a decent piece of clothing anymore, and her stockings were nearly nonexistent on her legs due to the numerous tears on their silky material. It was clear that Scarecrow 1-3 had taken some abuse from combat and was incapacitated, but at the very least, she seemed to be in one piece, which was good enough for me.

"Kalene!" To get her attention I yelled out Kalene's name, causing the jet-black haired girl to turn in my direction, allowing her to notice me instantly before running to me. Without much of a delay, she crossed the distance between us before stopping herself in front of me. She looked me over completely, checking me visually just as I was checking her. It seemed that she was relatively fine as I saw no injuries anywhere on her, only dried blood and sweat that was glistening from her work clothes and skin. She was rugged and dirty as her clothes were somewhat torn and stained, although nowhere near as bad as Scarecrow 1-3. I also took notice that on her back she had a sheath and a holstered sword, both of which were stained with blood, telling me that she had gotten into combat herself, albeit with better luck than our teammate.

"Good to see you're okay. Well, not that I was expecting anything different." She commented as she ran her eyes all over me with a relieved smile.

_"_ Yeah, although it seems that I've been better off than you both. You two are a mess." As I spoke, I made my way over to Scarecrow 1-3. Once I had neared her, I noticed that she was barely awake as her eyes were drooping down, struggling to keep themselves open even after she had noticed me standing in front of her. "It seems you got the worst of it all between us. Are you okay?" I asked her as I analyzed her bandaged leg visually.

"Oh yeah. Just a scratch, that's all." She joked with a weak voice, just barely loud enough for me to hear. As she spoke, Scarecrow 1-3 tried looking up to me, giving me a small smile before it collapsed from her strain.

_Easy now, don't push yourself here._

"It seems you're okay enough to make a joke," I commented as I placed my sword down on the ground near me. After that, I proceeded to kneel and get closer to Scarecrow 1-3, moving close enough so that I could analyze her wounded leg physically. At first, I dragged my finger lightly around and above her bandages throughout her thigh, causing Scarecrow 1-3 to tense up slightly as a reaction. After that, I undid her dirty bandages carefully to reveal her wound, letting me notice that she had a small but deep bitemark, a mark that was also purple and inflamed. The fact that it was purple and swollen meant that the injury was a bite from a cave spider, although, by the looks of it, it seems that the bite and its poison was neutralized quickly after its infliction. She was taken care of properly, so that was good, although it was clear that she was still suffering from the effects of her injury regardless.

Having had finished my visual confirmation, Kalene ended up tapping me on the shoulder, causing me to face her and notice that she was handing me a clean bandage along with a warm wetted towel. Having had understood her unspoken request, I began wiping any dried and dirty blood around the wound on Scarecrow 1-3's thigh, cleaning it of anything that could infect her more than she already was. After cleaning her wound, I then dragged the warm towel throughout the entirety of her leg, cleaning it all from dirt and sweat, causing Scarecrow 1-3 to tense up even more.

Perhaps it was due to the poison making her sensitive, but after a while of me wiping her leg, I heard Scarecrow 1-3 beginning to coo and moan lightly, causing me to tense up along with her as a result.

Her moans sounded sweet and full, hinting more of pleasure than pain. As so, before I knew it, I found myself listening to her voice curiously with keen attention.

"Mmm..." Her weak voice engraved her cooing into my ear, distracting me momentarily as a result before I forced myself to maintain focus.

"Are you alright?" I asked, wanting to make sure that I wasn't hurting her in any way.

"Yeah... I'm fine... just... keep doing that for a minute for me, please?" She asked as she placed her hand on my arm, guiding me on how to keep rubbing her leg with the towel.

Her guidance was very delicate, although not subtle in terms of what it was doing to her. The process was slow but passionate as she'd move my hand all over her thigh, slowly inching me upwards into her groin as I rubbed her down, just barely keeping me away from there before she'd guide my hand in an opposing direction. As every second of this passed, her breathing gradually grew deeper and heavier, all while her moans would become more and more amorous with encouragement. Not only that but her face grew slightly flushed, tinting her face a pinkish color that displayed her restlessness.

_It seems that the poison within her has made her very needy and sensitive. Although, the nature of what that sensitivity seems to be about is... questionable to say the least. She's very reactive to my touch, perhaps even too reactive for what this situation is supposed to be about. After all, she's poisoned, isn't she? It's the poison that is causing her to be this way, right?..._

As much as it disgraced me to realize it, the fact that she was behaving this way had begun making me overly conscious and attentive of her, a result that I found myself needing to purge away from existence. The way she looked, while disregarding her injuries, did not help me one bit as her torn work clothes did wonders to cover her up in any meaningful way. Her opened dress shirt was displaying her slim stomach and waist while her torn skirt, as previously said, was just barely enough to make her sufficiently clothed from below. The fact that my senses were still heightened was also not helping as her soft skin was easily felt by my fingers through the towel while my vision was capable of focusing intensely on her fairly lustrous skin. At this point, almost everything about this girl made it unbelievably difficult to not think of her in a way that wasn't appropriate.

_This scenario is severely testing my self-control right now... Not only that but I swear these girls and their uniform will be the end of me at some point... It's simply outrageous how alluring they can be when they're combined..._

_On a different note, did Scarecrow 1-3 and Kalene both fight with this uniform on? How would that even work properly? They're wearing heels... and a skirt... Surely that's not practical... right?..._

_The fuck does this matter? What's wrong with me? It's just clothes for fuck's sake... Move on from this already..._

After a minute of cleaning her injured leg with the towel, Scarecrow 1-3 finally let go of my arm, allowing me to pull away and shut off the bullshit thoughts in my head. Without allowing my mind or my vision to wander, I bandaged her wound back up with the clean bandage, doing so slowly and carefully so that I didn't injure her. Once I was finished, I looked over Scarecrow 1-3 again, trying to make sure that she wasn't severely injured anywhere else. Luckily, apart from her leg, she only had small thin cuts on her abdomen and her left leg, injuries that could be considered negligible in this scenario.

"Hey..." Suddenly Scarecrow 1-3 broke my observations with her voice.

"Yeah?"

"Can you do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Can you wipe the cuts on my stomach and left leg? They're itching and burning like hell right now..." She pleaded. Without responding vocally or allowing myself to think, I began to wipe down her left leg in the same fashion I had done on her right leg. Since her left leg wasn't significantly injured, my action didn't cause her to tense up or flinch. However, it did cause her to moan more. Of course, since I didn't want to allow my mind or heart to suffer, I tried to ignore her titillating reactions, however, this attempt only got so far before it fell flat on me.

As I wiped, I noticed that the closer I got to her thighs on my own, the more she would react vocally and intensely, openly displaying the obvious 'pleasure' she was feeling as a result. Because of that cause and effect, for her sake, I focused most of my attention there once I had cleaned her small cuts everywhere else, just so that I could sate her sensitivity against the poison's effects within her. This went on for no more than a minute, however, since I didn't want to have to spoil her and do this for the rest of the time.

"Mmm... Can you... can you... rub my stomach now?..." Scarecrow 1-3 worded airily, her voice hinting of her sensual intoxication. Following her request, I leaned closer to her and placed my right hand on her lower back, and began using my left hand to wipe her slim stomach. For once, it was I who was invading the other's personal space, not that I had done so without consent.

At first, I focused solely on cleaning the light cuts on her waist and abdomen, however, once I was done with that, I began wiping her lower torso delicately as she seemed to have enjoyed. Naturally, she did not hold herself back from expressing her satisfaction auditorily, however, when I looked over at her face in the process, I noticed that her face was not any less suggestive. She was biting on her lower lip while displaying a sly smile, maintaining eye contact with me while doing so, almost speaking of her desires from her facial expression alone. She was blushing as her cheeks were tinted red, although, when considering her lack of sensuous concealment, it just made her look more lascivious to my eyes.

" _Why does your touch feel so good?_ " She whispered to me suddenly. At this point, it was clear that whatever the poison was doing to her was doing so well because right as I made eye contact with her, she took it upon herself to reach up with her right hand and cup the left side of my face, almost as if she was setting herself up to do something more. Because of this development, I took it upon myself to stop rubbing on her stomach and grabbed her hand, pulling it away. As intense as this moment had become, it had no fruit to bear. After all, in the end, it was the poison that caused her excitement, and as so, I won't allow anything to happen, not that I would want anything to happen if she wasn't poisoned.

"It seems you're losing yourself a bit. How about you consider allowing yourself to rest a little?" I suggested as I placed her hand onto her stomach, causing her to give me yet another sly smile. At first, since her smile seemed mischievous to my eyes, I thought that she was going to try something else. However, contrary to my expectations, she took to closing her eyes instead and reclined onto my right hand that had been supporting her back softly, making herself comfortable.

"Yeah... that... that sounds good to me too..." She agreed before she fell asleep almost instantly, surprising me slightly as a result.

_Well then... It seems that you had yourself hanging on the brim of consciousness..._

Now that Scarecrow 1-3 had calmed down and I had finished fulfilling her requests, I removed my hand from her back and lowered her onto the ground delicately, that way I wouldn't cause her any strain. After that, I then proceeded to pick up the iron sword that I had nearby before I stood up, facing Kalene in the process. Right as I did though, I noticed that Kalene seemed incredibly flustered as she was blushing and fidgeting a lot in place. She was staring at me intently, almost as if she was wrapped by my presence, a detail that caused me anxiety as a result, mostly because of what her restlessness may have meant.

As apparent as her state was though, I opted to ignore it as I had a different plan in my mind altogether. Instead, I began scanning our surroundings with my pulsating vision, causing the signature yellow lines to move outward in my sight, trying to highlight anything that was nearby. Just as I had assumed and hoped, I noticed that no one was remotely close to us. As far as my eyes were able to scan, I was only able to spot monsters around, all of which were a considerable distance away from us. As so, now that I had confirmed our isolation in the area, I returned my gaze to Kalene who was still stuck in place with restlessness.

"Kalene, do me a favor and use your healing power on Scarecrow 1-3. There's no one around us so we should be able to get away with it without gaining any form of external attention."

"Hmm?... Oh..." My sudden question caused Kalene to snap off of her fluster. "Are you sure? Won't that be risking us getting caught doing something extraordinary?" She asked as she regained her bearings.

"We'll be fine. If anything, I'd prefer it if she recovered as soon as possible since this entire district is a clusterfuck right now. Otherwise, if we leave her to recover naturally, she'll be a burden for all of us here."

"Alright, if you say so. Just give me a couple of minutes to get it done. It'll take me a while to stabilize her from the poison's effects." As she granted my request, she kneeled next to Scarecrow 1-3, initiating the green light that was her healing power on her right leg, healing her most severe injury first.

"While you're doing that, can you also explain to me as to what the hell happened to the two of you?" I asked, remembering that I have to relay the situation and any of its details to Ozone now that I've found Kalene and Scarecrow 1-3.

"Sure, although, to be quite honest, I don't have a good clue as to what happened. We just happened to get caught in the middle of something problematic." She began with a sigh. "As part of my objective, Aria decided that I should go out of my way to explore Droideir a bit so that I could get used to my surroundings before my shift at work. As so, after I got dressed, we headed in the general direction for Daisy's Drinks. It was somewhat eerie, however, as Aria and I were getting eyeballed constantly, but generally speaking, it wasn't anything too suspicious or out of place from what you'd expect from Droideir. However, when we had finished looking around and had made it to Daisy's Drinks, that's when things started to get out of hand." _I see... and is Aria Scarecrow 1-3's name?... Noted._

"Inside the bar, there was a huge scandal happening, something to do with the manager and a customer. They were in the middle of a heated argument, one that seemed irrelevant to the service of the bar. Instead, they were threatening each other, something to do with how the customer was going to destroy the place in spite while the manager was threatening the customer that he'd have him killed for being an arrogant 'patron', or something along those lines. At first, it all seemed like a blown-out argument, but... well.. after that, everything went wrong."

"The 'customer' wasn't just any regular customer. Instead, once he had his patience wrung dry, he displayed himself to be some sort of magical summoner. Unfortunately, I can't tell you the intricate details of what I saw, mostly because of what happened afterward, but to put it simply, he placed some sort of portal in his place, a portal that began summoning a lot of monsters at once. Within seconds, what was a moderately filled bar with people was filled with creepers, and then... well... they all started to blow up, destroying the entire place within seconds. Luckily for me, I had managed to get away completely fine as Aria had teleported us outside into an alley in the heat of the moment. Unfortunately for her, right before she teleported us, she had chosen to shield me from the shrapnel of all of the explosions during the split second she was activating her teleportation. As a result of that, she suffered a puncture into her right leg, not only injuring her but also breaking her concentration and making it so that she could only teleport us a block away from the bar."

"After that, it was all just a roll downhill. Within the minute that I was trying to make sure that Aria was okay, I noticed that the man had also summoned several portals outside of the bar, and as so, I found myself almost immediately surrounded by monsters. From that point forward up until just a couple of minutes ago, I had been fighting and carrying Aria with me, occasionally healing her discreetly so that I could keep her alive. Unfortunately for us though, even when I tried my best, I couldn't keep Aria and myself safe, especially not at first when I didn't even have a weapon."

"Along the way, Aria had gotten bitten on her injured leg by a cave spider, and I had suffered a couple of bite marks from zombies and giant spiders myself. Not only that, but Aria was struggling to request backup as her injuries and poisoned body made it nearly impossible for her to stay conscious enough to speak. Fortunately, though, Aria managed to pull through for me in the end and spoke to her squad leader, and then, by the looks of it, contacted you before we were left to ourselves. After that, I pushed for our retreat towards our inn here, and along the way, I tried to contact you so that we could meet up as soon as possible, but for some reason, my communications were not working at all. Every time I tried to pull up my display, it would shut down, sealing me from being able to speak to you." _Wait, what? So that's why I couldn't get a hold of you?_

_"_ So all of these monsters around are a result of one person's doing? That's how all of this started?" I inquired.

"Precisely. Those portals, as far as I can remember, never stopped summoning monsters."

"And you said that your display was not working at all? Did you not even hear my transmissions for you then?"

"Nope, nothing."

_Fucking hell, you two got the shitty ends of the stick..._

_"_ I see... It seems that you both have been plagued with bad luck tonight." I commented as I opened my display. "Ozone, this is Disciple 1-Actual. I've managed to make contact with Disciple 1-2 and Scarecrow 1-3. Be advised, Scarecrow 1-3 has suffered severe wounding but is currently being stabilized by Disciple 1-2 discreetly. Disciple 1-2 herself is currently okay and is stable, over." I relayed to Ozone.

"Disciple 1-Actual, this is Ozone. Copy all. Requesting: Do you have anything to report concerning the origin of their emergency? Over."

"I do. According to Disciple 1-2, the monster invasion currently going about had originated through the magical power of a particularly hostile individual from her workplace. It seems that he caused the chaos here as a form of revenge against the manager of her workplace, over."

"Do you have any information concerning this individual? Over."

"Unfortunately, I don't. Disciple 1-2 was not able to pay close attention to him as the situation had grown dangerous very quickly once she had become aware of it. Perhaps Scarecrow 1-3 can supply information, although not now as she is currently unconscious, over."

"Understood. What's the status of your mission and your cover stories? Over."

"As far as I'm aware, we have been capable of maintaining our cover despite the use of our powers and engagements in combat. However, be advised, that Disciple 1-2's objective location has been destroyed as part of the situation. Currently, she no longer has an objective area to work in, over."

"Copy. As a result of her mission objective no longer being available, she is to standby until further notice. Apart from that, what is the status of your current combat capabilities? Will any of you need to be extracted or relocated? Over."

"At the moment the entirety of Disciple 1 is capable of combat, and within time, once she's been healed, Scarecrow 1-3 will be the same. However, a good portion of the city is currently in danger and our safe house will soon be compromised as a result. We won't need an extraction sometime soon, but if this situation gets any worse, we may lose our residence here, over."

"Understood. I'll organize a secondary safe house for you in the background in case things go wrong. If you need it, let me know to put it into effect. Apart from that, is there anything else worth mentioning? Over."

"Yeah. Be advised, Disciple 1-2 brought to my attention that her communications display had failed her earlier during her retreat from the monster invasion, over."

"Copy. What type of error was it? Over.'

"Her display kept shutting down and disallowed her to contact me when she tried. Not only that, but it also kept communications from getting to her as she hadn't received any of my transmissions when I was looking for her earlier, over."

"Understood. We'll remember this for analysis in the future. Is there anything else? Over."

"Negative, I've said all, over."

"Understood. In that case, from this point forward, you are to maintain your covers and go with the flow of your situation. Once the entire situation has been settled, if it does, relay to me for mission guidance and briefing. Until then, keep yourselves alive, keep yourselves undercover, and continue to maintain your mission profile. Clear? Over."

"Clear, over."

"Understood. Good luck. Ozone out." He tapped out.

_Man, this is a damn pain in the ass. How long are we going to have to put up with this?_

_"_ There, she should be healed up fully now," Kalene mentioned out loud, causing me to take notice of how Aria no longer had any wounds anywhere on her body. "However, it might be a while before she feels okay. I removed all of the poison and healed her wounds, but she may still have some residue effects within her mentally." She warned.

"Eh, that's good enough. Now that you're done with that though, we need to figure out what to do next. Until this chaos calms down, we won't be able to continue our mission properly, and soon this area will get overrun and we'll lose our home." I said as I tried to think of a plan.

"Do you have anything in mind?"

"Not really. Do you?" I asked for advice.

"Not really. At most, I think that we could defend this inn so that we can guarantee our home, however, it'll be pointless to do so if those monsters manage to make their way over here in a nearly infinite number."

"Yeah, I thought so too. However, the only way to know if those monsters have stopped spawning in is if one of us goes back there to check, and going back there to check means that we'll have to put up with combat when we're barely armed." As I spoke, I also checked my watch, taking notice that it was barely nighttime. "Not only that but even if we defend this area, it's currently only 5:57 PM, meaning that we'd have to defend this area for almost twelve hours straight before daytime comes and pacifies all of the monsters around. If we consider the amount of pressure we felt on the way over here and consider the idea that such a level of pressure will replicate itself here, then we'd be lucky if not one of us dies or has to be extracted."

"Considering the number of problems we have here, do you think that it'd be fair to consider this a mission failure? If Droideir gets destroyed, then what exactly would we be able to do? Maybe we should request extraction and just call it a day?"

"We could... but..." I trailed off, not wanting to consider the idea for too long.

"But then you might get punished for giving up on the mission when we've yet to face a hopeless circumstance..." She guessed.

"Yeah... That's the only reason why I haven't requested an extraction yet despite our circumstances..." I confirmed. "... Say..." I perked up. "What are the chances that the guards in this place manage to subdue the problem?"

"Uh..." Suddenly Kalene gave me an unsure look. "I... don't know if the security here in Droideir can handle this. I mean, most of the guards that I came across earlier either deserted the field, died fighting, or 'retreated' for an unknown amount of time, all while barely protecting the land or the civilians around. Unless any reinforcement arrives from the Amali District or the Sevili District, I doubt that this would get solved by them."

"Can't they just request for reinforcements from the other districts? I mean, Droideir is part of the country all of these districts are in, right?"

"They can, but unless the trouble concerns the other districts directly, I doubt they'd agree. Even if the three districts all share the same country in name, their division is far too strong for such a simple level of companionship. Especially when Droideir is the district in question." Suddenly Aria spoke up, causing me to face her due to her having had startled me as a result. When I looked over to her, however, I noticed that the moment I had made eye contact with her, she looked away, and instead, she preoccupied herself with fixing her clothes and lifting herself off of the ground. Even after she was done with that though, she still went out of her way to avoid my eyes.

_I see you've returned completely back to normal already, although, with some shame sprinkled within._

"I see... But if this monster invasion gets out of hand, won't it reach the other districts too? Isn't that enough motive to come here and help?" I returned, turning my eyes away from Aria so that I could alleviate her from her internal embarrassment.

"Yeah, theoretically, it will, and as so, their aim should be to come here to avoid the problem altogether. However, they won't, mostly because they won't need to. The security in the Amali District is remarkably stronger than the security here in Droideir, and the security in the Sevili is even stronger. If and when the invasion reaches them, they'll be more than capable of suppressing it without letting the district itself get overrun. As a matter of the fact, their security is so strong that they'll even be capable of maintaining their borders intact. As a result, because they'd be able to survive that way, they'd rather wait and prepare than to come here and help directly."

"Why is the division that strong within these districts? The way they operate seems fruitless when they're supposed to be one country altogether."

"As I said, the districts here may share the country in name, but that's all. Anything that happens within them is their concern only, and if any of the districts need something, they'll have to compensate for the favor asked. In our case, we're stuck in Droideir, the district with almost nothing to its name. Without a doubt, since Droideir can't offer anything, the other districts will turn their back unless it is of most importance that they fight here. Even then though, we'd be lucky if they help clean everything up as opposed to just coming here to get their interests done."

"I see... Well, if we can't rely on the district's security to save this place, then what do you suggest that we do?"

"Since our mission has yet to be compromised, we can either hole up here and defend this inn, or we can fall back away from the Sevali Union with my teleportation."

_Teleport away? I almost forgot she could do that..._

"Will it be convenient for you to teleport us away?"

"It's easy enough to do, however, we won't be able to monitor Droideir's internal state if we do. For the most part, I suggest that we stay here and only leave if we need materials such as food. After all, if we consider how deserted this district has become, it's likely that we're going to have to go out of our way to supply ourselves in the meantime."

"Seems good enough..." I trailed as I walked over by to the entrance of the Red Rosary inn. "Well then, since we're going to stay here, I guess I'll stand guard first. You two can go rest up or do anything you'd like."

"Are you sure?" Kalene perked up, showing a concerned look.

"Yeah. You two have gone through a lot already. I'll prefer it if you two rest up, especially you Kalene. That healing power will be our savior and I need it to be ready and full at all times." I explained. Although she seemed concerned, Kalene didn't object to my decision, neither did Aria. As so, without any words, the two ladies made their way into the inn while I sat outside, beginning my guard duty for the night.

* * *

"Augh... Fuck..." I groaned out loud as my words were spaced out by my heavy breathing. "Yeah... I should've been... more careful about this..."

At the moment it was only a little past eight at night, and yet, I was already dealing against the full brunt of the monster invasion that had reached our inn. It was all just as I had expected, an invasion that felt nearly endless to fight against. Every time I cleared out the area of a wave of monsters, it'd only take a couple of minutes before an entirely different wave would take their place, forcing me into combat once again. Even with my empowerment, the amount of pressure I felt was overbearing, mostly because I had to do everything in my current ability to keep those monsters from breaking into our inn.

Usually, I would've kept myself inside the inn, staying on the main floor and making sure that none of the monsters broke through the windows or the door to enter, something that they usually would not do or be able to succeed with. However, it wasn't long into that plan that I learned that these monsters were far more aggressive than usual. As so, when I tried to hide behind the counter to avoid their attention, even though they probably didn't sense me, they began banging on the door and the large window panes, almost breaking them in the process before I changed my mind and fought them. Ever since, I've been running around outside, just fighting them and keeping them generally away from our inn. As you'd expect, because that is what I've been forced to do, I'm now growing excessively exhausted even though I'm using my ability to empower me.

Well, even though I'm complaining, it's not as if I was faltering in any way. My innate ability was doing more than enough to keep me moving, and at most, my exhaustion was more mental than anything. After all, it was very mundane to have to swing a sword at things that, for the most part, don't even have a chance to hurt you. At the very least, it would've helped if there was something here to give me a challenge. Then again, my personal feelings were not the type of thing that should be satisfied right now. As tedious as this is, I'd take this over any life or death scenario that could've happened instead.

_Too slow..._

Suddenly an enderman tried teleporting behind me, and as so, as I've always done, I turned around immediately and punctured his torso, impaling him through his jet-black skin before he fell to his knees. Even though he was already severely injured, his conviction didn't falter as he reached for my throat with his long thin hands, choking me the second they made contact with my skin. Unfortunately for him, as scary as that would've been to face, especially with how surprising it was to find out that he was still aggressive enough to fight, it didn't faze me. Instead, I pulled my sword out of him, took a step back, and then lunged into his thin neck, killing him instantly then. As a result of my victory, I got splattered all over my body with his deep purple blood before he disappeared into white dust.

_Too loud..._

A creeper suddenly sneaked up behind me afterward, all while it was preparing itself to explode. As so, he hissed loudly while lighting himself up like a torch, taking away what would've been his perfect chance to kill me while I was distracted. Naturally, since I had noticed him, stopping him was as simple as swinging my sword hard enough that I sliced him in half. As a result, now that he was in two dead pieces, his ignition sequence was stopped and all that was left of him were two piles of gunpowder that had flowed out of his cut halves.

_Yeah, yeah... You all want to eat me. Please tell me something new..._

As you can imagine, the next group of monsters that tried to kill me was a pile of zombies, giant spiders, and cave spiders. When compared to endermen or creepers, they were far, far easier to deal with as they didn't do anything that could catch you with surprise. Spiders, when you consider their nature, simply try to grapple you to bite you, but if you're quick or keep your distance, they can only do shit worth of nothing to beat you. Zombies are essentially the same, losing to speed or distance when fought against. As so, killing this group of enemies was light work. Before they knew it, they were all turned into nothing but sliced pieces of dead flesh.

For the next hour, this process was not any different. I fought and fought, clearing the area out consistently so that the inn would not be destroyed, and in the process, I noticed that because of my efforts, the inn was the only place around that was still standing in place. The monsters, due to their heightened aggression, had broken into every other building and had nearly destroyed the entirety of the buildings around with combined efforts. First, zombies and spiders would bang on the doors or the windows, breaking them down, and then, after that, endermen would work their way inside and would begin taking the place apart due to their strength, either that or a creeper would blow up without having had been provoked, annihilating the place through its suicide.

_All things considered, it seems that these monsters have been summoned with an aggression level higher than regular. As far as I've known, monsters wouldn't go out of their way to destroy anything that didn't concern them, especially when they weren't provoked. Hell, even when they were provoked, they wouldn't destroy their surroundings. The only time they would is if it was simply collateral as part of their chase for you. After all, if they did destroy things like the way they are now, I'm sure my village would have been destroyed countless times with the lack of personal security there._

_They're likely more aggressive due to the individual who summoned them. If that's the case, then why would he go out of his way to summon all of the monsters this way? If he planned to simply destroy Daisy's Drinks by itself, then it was more than sufficient for him to have used all of those creepers as Kalene had described. To summon all of these monsters afterward is nothing but overkill. Perhaps, his aim was bigger than just destroying the bar? Don't tell me his plan extended as far as destroying this entire district? If so, then why? If Droideir is as empty or worthless as it's known to be, what could he possibly stand to gain by destroying it? Or was his aim even bigger than destroying Droideir?_

_Augh... why did my mission have to get this complicated? So much for it being an entry mission for me Valkyrie..._

Suddenly I heard a loud groan emerge from behind me, one that sounded like a zombie's. As a result, I made the effort to turn around so that I could fight it. However, right before I could've done anything, for some reason, my instincts shot up and before I knew it, I had instinctively dashed to my right with immense speed, avoiding whatever the peril was that had alerted me. At first, I had no clue regarding what had happened, however, once I had retrieved my bearings, I noticed that the zombie that I had spotted was no longer in one whole piece. Instead, he had a large hole that spread throughout its torso, allowing me to see its dead organs hang around the opening before the zombie itself dispersed into white dust immediately after.

_What the fuck? What the hell just happened?_

"Hey! Watch your fire! You almost killed a civilian!" To my right and down the street, I heard a strong disciplinary yell emerge from a man, causing me to face his direction. Once I did, I noticed almost immediately the overwhelming group of people who had, at some point, arrived, all of which who were armed to the teeth with weapons and heavy armor. The group was mostly in a formation with two at the front, and two lines of ten people behind them, all of which who were armed with iron swords, spears, or bows, along with heavy iron armor.

It seemed that the two at the front had a slight complication as the one to the right, probably the leader, was chastising the one on the left, an archer who was in the process of reloading.

"Civilian?! What type of fucking civilian dodges like _that_?!" The archer exclaimed as he pointed directly at me, causing the leader to face me himself.

"It doesn't matter what he did! The problem here is that you could've killed him! Fix your aim, or else I'll shove that bow right up your ass! Have I made myself clear?!" The leader argued back. At the same time, he wielded his sword from his sheath and pointed it at the archer who had flinched as a result.

"Yeah, I understand! Damn... It's not like I killed him..." He acknowledged with a bit of sarcasm in his voice, prompting the leader to groan with frustration.

_Who the hell are these people? Are they reinforcements? Sure looks like they are..._

"Spread out! Clear this area! Make sure nothing else goes wrong while we're here! Anyone who slacks will be used as bait!" The leader rang out an order, prompting everyone in the formation to break away, going on their separate paths and engaging the monsters around the area that we were at.

_Reinforcements huh? Not from Droideir either. Are they from the Amali District? Their armor and weaponry match the ones at the main gate, so it's probably them._

"Sorry about that. Some of these asshats haven't got the practice to know not to screw simple things up. Are you injured?" The leader approached me, wearing an apologetic but stern look on his face. Since he was closer, I examined his overall look and noticed that his iron armor had a golden tint to it, perhaps signifying his status among the rest. Not only that, but his sword was also the same.

"I didn't die. That's good enough for me." I responded as I looked around for any unoccupied monsters to fight.

"Yeah, gladly. I'd hate to have his first mission deployment to be collateral, even if it involves a district apart from ours..." He sighed as he faced the archer who was shooting at zombies on his own. Even though that archer was careless, it was clear that he was strong. For some reason, the arrows he shot had tremendous stopping power and speed, completely obliterating any mobs that got caught in its trajectory. It was almost as if his bow was more of a cannon than a bow. "... Although, you're not just any regular guy yourself, are you?" He then turned to me.

"Hmm? How so?" I feigned ignorance, causing an uncertain smile to emerge from his face.

"Come on now. You're seeing what his arrows can do. The fact that you dodged them even though you were distracted is something I'd call inhumane. Surely you're aware of how crazy that must make you?"

_Every second that passes, I grant myself more and more attention huh? I'm screwing this up way too much for my good..._

_"_ Not really. I'm just a man who's trying to survive. There's not much else I can tell you." I evaded.

"I see... Well, anyway, do you happen to know anything about where these monsters came from?" He changed the topic. "We were told that it'd be easy to figure out where all of these demons were coming from, but by the looks of it, these freaks are everywhere. Not only that, but it seems that the guards here all ran with shit coming out of their asses so we haven't been able to ask anyone else either... "

"Uh, yeah. My sister told me about where this had all began. She said that a customer at her workplace today had a problem with her manager and that he then summoned all of these monsters there to destroy the bar. Your aim should be where Daisy's Drinks is... well... was." I answered.

"Daisy's Drinks? Yeah, I don't know where that is exactly..." He placed one of his hands on his chin, rubbing it as he thought. "... By any chance, is it close from here?"

"Not really."

"Yeah, I figured. And by any chance, since I don't know this district very well, what are the chances that I'll get lost, even if you give me directions?"

"Very likely since you'll be constantly distracted along the way..."

"Ugh..." He rubbed his forehead as he sighed, displaying his frustration. "... This is why I hate going to other districts. No one on my side knows anything worth more than shit. I know you're not obligated to help me, but is it possible that you can guide me and my men to this bar?" He asked as he then bowed his head to me, resigning himself to me.

_This is not what I expected to see from an Amali soldier..._

"I... don't mind as long as your men can keep me in one piece. However... I don't know how my sister is going to feel about me going over there, especially when she barely avoided death while she was escaping herself." I lied, trying to make myself sound reasonable. _Technically I'd be perfectly fine to go there with them and Kalene would be perfectly capable of keeping herself safe here, however, I need to try harder at keeping myself more believable._

"I understand. Say, where is your sister then?" He asked me as he looked around.

"She's in there with her friend," I answered as I pointed toward the Red Rosary inn, the only building that was standing properly in place around.

"In there? Wait... If she's in there, why are you out here?" He followed up, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"These monsters are far more aggressive than usual. When they got here, they tried breaking into our inn even though we were nowhere within their senses. Because of that, I had to go out of my way to stay out here and defend the place to keep her and her friend safe inside."

"So you've been defending this area by yourself this entire time? For how long?"

"For a couple of hours now."

"Hoh..." He exclaimed with a surprised voice. "You're one hell of a man then..." He commented. "... Well, as I said, you're not obligated to help me. There's not much I can do if you feel the need to stay here to keep your sister safe yourself. However, if you help me, I promise you that I'll make it up to you somehow. I understand that you may still not be inclined in my favor, but I'm sure that our goals will align if we, at the very least, are guided in the right direction. After all, I doubt that you want this to last much longer, even if you can handle it, right?" He tried to bargain with me as he lowered his head again, causing me to sigh.

"If I go, how am I going to keep her and her friend safe? As I said, I'm the one that has been protecting them this entire time. If I leave, who'd take my place?"

"I'll leave two of my best here. I have confidence that they'll do a great job of keeping them safe. I promise you my life." As he answered, he pointed over at two particular guards who were fighting side by side, almost in sync with one another with extreme speed. Their speed with one another was so great that they both looked like after images of each other. It was clear that they were as good as their leader was boasting them to be.

"I see... Well, I can't promise you that I'll help, but at the very least, I'll ask her if she's okay with it. It's the least I can do, I guess..." My answer prompted the leader to smile at me, a smile that displayed nothing but appreciation.

"Thank you. We'll stay out here while you two talk. Although, please make it brief?" He asked as he wielded his golden tinted iron sword.

"I'll be back," I told him as I turned around, facing our inn and making my way inside. Afterward, I then made my way upstairs and down the hallway up to where our assigned room was at. Before I walked in, however, I stood outside by the door, readying my keys in my hand so that I could unlock it.

_So much for avoiding attention... Now I'm getting involved with the security of an entirely different district just because he asked nicely... It can't be helped right? It's all inevitable... Maybe it's just my damned fate to be noticed during every second that passes... Either that or I'm just a moron who doesn't know how to keep to himself... somehow..._

Once I had unlocked the door, I walked inside and turned around to close and lock the door behind me. After that, I then rubbed my eyes and the temple of my head, mostly because after everything that had happened, I was exhausted above all else.

"Kalene? Aria? I need your advice on something here." I voiced my concern out loud as I turned around while still rubbing my eyes.

"Woah! Woah! Wa-!" Suddenly, with extreme urgency, I heard Kalene's voice exclaim, prompting me to clear my eyes and to face her, trying to figure out as to what the hell she had gotten so lively about. At first, because my eyes were blurry from having had been rubbed, I could not tell anything worth of shit in terms of what I was looking at. However, after a couple of seconds of them readjusting and clearing themselves up, I realized as to why she had gotten so worked up suddenly.

_God... fucking... damn..._


	12. Author's Note: Discontinuation

**_Author's Note - October 24, 2020_ **

**_Discontinuation & Re-Write_ **

Hello, everyone!

Alright, so to keep things straight and clear, I, from this point forward, will **discontinue this story** , meaning that this story will no longer be updated in any way anymore.

Now, just in case if you happen to be curious, I'll explain both my reason for this discontinuation and what I am planning to do in its place:

**Reason**

To put it in very bare terms, I have lost the ability to continue writing this story without making it a jumbled mess.

For those of you who haven't noticed, this story was published back in 2017, which is a very big time period between then and now. Between the three years that I've had this story up, I've been writing it on and off with a significant break in between, a break of nearly two years. Within that break, I did not update this story, mostly because I didn't have the confidence to write back then, and when I came back, I wrote on it again, hoping that I could pull it off better. However, unfortunately, because the break was so big in between, a giant discrepancy was created within my writing style, the overall progression of the plot, and the details of the existing chapters against the newer ones.

Without realizing it, I wrote on this story, pushing it forward by force, only to completely throw it off due to a lack of proper direction. I forced myself to write on it despite the aimless direction it had, and now, I'm in a situation where I genuinely don't know where to take this story without needing to overhaul all of the chapters completely. As a result, I've found myself making the choice that I'll discontinue this story and leave it be, as otherwise, I'd just force myself to write nothing but a filthy mess worth of a plot.

**Possible Rewrite/Entirely New Story**

Even though I've chosen to discontinue this story, I don't plan on not writing at all. Instead, I've come to the idea that I'll essentially restart and rewrite the story, if not make an entirely new one with a similar premise.

Unfortunately, I don't know how exactly I'll categorize the new story, however, just know that all of my focus will be going into this new story and that it will have a similar premise, with perhaps, the same characters (with some exceptions here and there). After all, as mindless and aimless Distance is, I did enjoy writing from Victor's perspective and his supporting character, Adelina. I'd hate to throw them away completely because of a lack of organization.

**Additional Notes**

Now, I know that suddenly having a story discontinued can be quite frustrating for some of you, and I know that deleting this story might just be plain rude for any of you who may have enjoyed it. As so, just for those of you who liked this story, I will leave this version up, just so that you can have it around whenever you'd like to read it, if not finish reading it if you are currently invested in it. Just remember, as I previously said, that it is not going to be updated anymore.

Apart from that, I'd also like to ask for constructive criticism against this story. I've never really made a big deal to ask openly, but one of the reasons as to why I write is because I seek improvement, and as so, I'd be elated if anyone who reads this could give me any proper pointers, whether it be about what you liked about this story, or what you didn't like. Such feedback will prove useful for me as I write this new story, so if you'd like to talk to me, feel free to do so, either as a comment, or a private message. I know that some of you may be hesitant to talk because you may fear that you may have nothing valuable to say, or that perhaps you're afraid of how I might react, but just know that in terms of me, I'll appreciate anything that is said, even if the message is small, or rude. Really, anything counts as long as I can read it.

Lastly, I do want to thank everyone who went out of their way to read, like, comment, or follow this story. For my first story, I'm surprised that it got a decent bit of attention, and as so, I'm glad to know that some of you have taken some time out of your days to read this story. As a result, I hope that in turn, I'll be able to satisfy all of you in my upcoming story with a similar sense of pleasure. I'll try my best.

That all being said, I hope to see you all in the next one.

Have a good one,

ShadowSector


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